Maharashtra government invites protesting OBC activists for talks on quota issue

On Thursday, a district official announced that the Maharashtra government has extended an invitation to representatives from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community,  whose associates have been protesting here against the demand to include Marathas into the OBC category, to Mumbai for talks on quota issue.

Ravindra Tonge, the leader of the student wing affiliated with Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh, has been conducting a hunger strike for the past 18 days. His demand is that the Maratha community should not be classified as part of the OBC category.

Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Wednesday met the activists of the Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh in Chandrapur, and held talks with them. He also urged Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies to invite the protesters for a dialogue with them.

On Thursday, Chandrapur Collector Vinay Gowda sent letters to eight protesting activists, in which they were asked to depute their representatives for talks with the government in Mumbai on Friday on the quota issue, the official said. The OBC leaders will take an appropriate decision after talks with CM Shinde and other leaders on Friday, said Sachin Rajurkar, general secretary of Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh.