Confusion over and opposition to the Maratha reservation has begun in the Maharashtra government after it issued a notification based on the agitators’ demands. Minister Chhagan Bhujbal of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) held a meeting on Sunday with various OBC leaders at his official residence in Malabar Hill. They passed a resolution in the meeting that the government’s notification should be cancelled.

After the agitation led by Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil ended at Navi Mumbai, the state government issued a notification on Saturday. According to the draft notification, Marathas who have a direct blood relative with a Kunbi caste certificate, can with an affidavit, secure a Kunbi caste certificate for themselves and claim reservation as Other Backward Classes (OBC). Bhujbal, who is Maharashtra’s minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, opposed the notification, claiming that it will impact the current reservation quota for OBCs. Former Minister Ram Shinde, MLC Gopichand Padalkar and other OBC leaders were present during Bhujbal’s meeting.