Is it the end of the road for the Marathas who have been denied reservation by the Supreme Court? Legally it could be. But politically, it hasn’t ended as yet, because it involves the state’s largest community which feels cheated, aggrieved and ready to take to the streets whenever the pandemic subsides. More worried are the Maratha politicians, who are either in the government or Opposition. In the initial stages of the protests, Maratha leaders weren’t allowed to seize advantage; they were barred from making speeches and made to walk in the last row in case they were allowed to participate in the silent marches the community organised five-six years ago. As the agitation progressed, a select few Maratha politicians found favour with the community when it came to discussing terms with the then BJP-led government, which wasn’t seen as a conventional Maratha-controlled regime, but legislated a reservation law. The present dispensation, a collaboration of three parties, is again pursued as a Maratha regime though headed by a non-Maratha Chief Minister. A mighty Maratha, Sharad Pawar, stands rock solid behind the alliance which has a maximum number of Maratha ministers and MLAs. The Marathas may have a reason to feel disenchanted because the state has a Maratha-dominated government while the community’s quota in jobs and education has been scrapped. After a knee jerk reaction on the judgment day, the Marathas have been showing much-needed restraint in the time of the pandemic.

The ‘quota war’ promises to rage further in the times to come because of its high political quotient. After all, the issue relates to a community that comprises 30 per cent of the state’s population. The BJP, which made a law to give Marathas a quota three years ago and maintained it in the high court when challenged, has blamed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for failing deliberately in the apex court. “The MVA did it only for denying the BJP credit. The state government may still make a law and convince the courts why it needs to cross a 50 per cent cap on reservations,” said ex-CM Devendra Fadnavis. CM Uddhav Thackeray said the BJP-made law was flawed and quoted the apex court as saying, “the state does not have the right to decide reservations”. He put the ball in the PM’s court, asking him to legislate a quota for Marathas as early as possible.