OBC rally turns show of strength for Bhujbal

OBC rally turns show of strength for Bhujbal
Rakshit Sonawane

Nashik, Feb 13: The statewide rally of the Mahatma Phule Samata Parishad in Nashik on Sunday was nothing more than a show of strength by its founder-president and State Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who made discreet efforts to resurrect Mahatma Phule as the political icon of the other backward castes (OBC)s by raising emotional issues.

The rally attended by the NCP trinity (Sharad Pawar, P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar) concluded without a firm stand on any topical issue or any announcement on future course of action. Instead, most of the resolutions moved in the rally were emotional ones, like demanding posthumous `Bharat Ratna' awards for Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule; installing a statue of Mahatma Phule in Parliament premises; naming the Pune airport after Mahatma Phule; naming the women's studies centre of the SNDT university after Savitribai Phule; making of a film on Mahatma Phule; and mentioning January 3 as `Savitribai Phule Jayanti' in the government calendar.

Other resolutions included the demand for reservations for OBCs in cooperatives, review of OBC "creamy layer" every three years and fulfillment of backlog of the quota, when the fact is that the entire reservation system is gradually becoming redundant because of globalisation.

In his speech, Bhujbal blamed the Hindutva parties for creating a communal divide, but also mentioned that several office-bearers of the NCP had been arrested for instigating the recent riots in Nashik (which meant that NCP workers were no different from their counterparts in Hindutva parties).

The audience, which had been kept waiting in the sun since 2 pm became impatient as the parishad began after Pawar arrived at 4.00 pm. Intermittently, several speakers, including Bhujbal had to make fervent appeals to the audience not to leave the venue. Irrespective of the appeals when some people started leaving, Bhujbal's volunteers physically prevented them from leaving.

After the conclusion of the rally, police officials, in an unusual gesture, rang up newspaper offices stating that the gathering was over 1.5 lakh-strong and requested newspaper staffers to make a special mention of the same. Apparently, it was made a part of their duty as Bhujbal holds the home portfolio.

Surprisingly, even officials from the district information office and the divisional information office were present at the rally, which was not an official engagement of Bhujbal. The presence of Muslims was negligible and the community did not find mention in Bhujbal's speech, which on the contrary blamed Muslim fanatics, alongwith their Hindu counterparts, for creating a communal divide in the country.