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According to a Lokniti post-poll survey, in the latest election, the BJP garnered 30% of Maratha (including Kunbi) votes and 40% of OBC votes, creating a strong Hindu coalition. Additionally, one-fourth of Adivasi voters and one-fifth of Scheduled Caste (SC) voters supported the BJP.
The term Maratha referred broadly to all the speakers of the Marathi language. [33] [3] In the 17th century, it also served as a designation for peasants from the Deccan Plateau who served as soldiers in the armies of Muslim rulers and later in the armies of Shivaji. Thus, the term Maratha became a marker of an endogamous caste for them. [34]
The state Government of Maharashtra does not recognise a group called Maratha-Kunbi. [36] According to Irawati Karve, the Marata-Kunbi form over 40% of the population of Western Maharashtra. [37] Later in 1990, Lele records that the Maratha-Kunbi group of castes account for 31% of the population, distributed over the whole of Maharashtra. [30]
For the first time, the creation of Maharashtra brought most Marathi people under one state with the mainly rural Kunbi-Maratha community as the largest social group. This group has dominated the rural economy and politics of the state since 1960. [85] [86] The community accounts for 31% of the population of Maharashtra.
The second-largest community after the Maratha–Kunbi is the former Mahar community, now known as Neo-Buddhist. The community falls under the scheduled caste (SC) group. Since the time of B. R. Ambedkar, this community has supported various factions of the Republican Party of India (RPI). There are 25 seats reserved for the SC.
In Maratha society, membership of a Kul or clan is acquired in a patrilineal manner. People belonging to a clan usually have a common surname, a common clan deity, and a common clan totem . [12] Various lists have been compiled, purporting to list the 96 "true Maratha" clans, but these lists vary greatly and are disputed.
Another political scientist, Donald B. Rosenthal, said that the motivation for the violence was the historical discrimination and humiliation faced by the Maratha community due to their caste status and "Even today, local Brahmins claim that the Marathas organized the riots to take political advantage of the situation".
He led a protest march, part of the Maratha Kranti Morcha and Sakal Maratha Samaj, from his hometown in Jalna, originally intended for Azad Maidan in South Mumbai starting 26 January 2024. The aim was to advocate for expanding Kunbi Other Backward Class certification to Marathas, enabling them to access OBC benefits, including a 27 percent ...