Trouble for Sharad Pawar, NCP: Dhangars want a quota after Marathas, Muslims

With the Maharashtra Assembly elections around the corner, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government is finding the heat rising from an unlikely source: The issue of the inclusion of the Dhangar community in the ST category.

The Dhangars, a shepherd community, have been agitating over the demand for some weeks now. Protests against the state government have been held across the state.

According to the Dhangar Samaj Aarakshan Sangharsha Kriti Samiti (DSASKS), the community should have been given the benefits of affirmative action and reservation under the ST category ever since the Presidential order different reservations was issued in 1956. “But we have been deprived of the reservation as the name of the community was spelt as ‘Dhangad’ and not ‘Dhangar’ in that order. We have been denied our rightful constitutional reservation which has been a huge injustice to the community for past six decades,” said Navnath Padalkar, convener of DSASKS, speaking to Firstpost.

Padalkar added that there is no community called ‘Dhangad’ in the state. “So, the state government has to merely recommend to the Union government that Dhangar and Dhangad is the same community in the state and that we should be included in the ST category. But the state government has failed to do so in six decades now,” he explained, adding that the state government had recommended the inclusion of the Dhangar community in the ST category in 1979 but the recommendation was withdrawn in 1981 without any reason being cited.

“If the state government fails to make a recommendation, then the community will vote for those parties that will support our inclusion into the ST category. Also, we will teach a lesson to the Congress-NCP in the upcoming Assembly election for playing votebank politics with the issue,” said Lalit Bandgar, a member of DSASKS.

The community has organized a morcha on August 1 in Mumbai against the state government. Dhangars from across the state are expected to participate in the morcha, along with their sheep and other animals, clad in their traditional clothes, a portrayal of their unique identity and in a show of solidarity for the cause. Around 10 lakh people are likely to participate in the morcha, Bandgar added.

Currently, the community is in the nomadic tribes (NT) category in the state which entitles them to only 3.5 per cent reservation in education and jobs in the state. The community, which has a population of over 1.5 crore in Maharashtra, has a significant presence in Western Maharashtra and Marathwada, both regions of interest for the NCP. “Though we have the reservation under NT category in the state, we are deprived of jobs and political reservation to the community as the NT category is not recognised at the Centre," said Bandgar.

The Dhangar community’s anti-government protests could singe the Congress-NCP in Western Maharashtra and in Marathwada.

In fact, Dhangar community leaders and representatives have been on a dharna in Baramati, Sharad Pawar’s home town, for the past two weeks demanding their inclusion in the ST category. Sixteen members of the community were on fast-unto death until yesterday.

The BJP has spotted an opportunity and swooped in. It has supported the Dhangar community’s demand. If we come to power, we will certainly look into the community’s issue, which has been overlooked so far,” said Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP president, speaking in Baramati where he was present as the 16 fasting protestors accepted water and food. “The inclusion of the Dhangar community in the ST category will not affect the reservation for the tribals. Some people are trying to mislead the people in the state,” he added.

However, the Dhangar community’s demand has met stiff opposition from the tribals in the state. On Monday, the state minister for tribal welfare and NCP leader Madhukar Pichad and Sports & Youth Affairs minister and Congress leaders along with adivasi MLAs met President Pranab Mukherjee to oppose the Dhangar’s inclusion in the ST category. The Adivasi leaders are opposing the inclusion stating that it would affect the benefits given to them.

NCP leaders fear that if the issue is not resolved at the earliest, then it would have an adverse impact on the outcome of the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharahstra. After all, Supriya Sule got quite the scare in the Baramati Lok sabha election when Mahadeo Jankar, a prominent Dhangar leader, lost to her by only 69,000 votes. It means that he was able to reduce her winning margin from 3.5 lakh in 2009 to 69,000 in 2014. “Of course, this is worrisome for the party as the Dhangar community has traditionally voted for us,” said a NCP leader.

Jankar, president of the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh that is now an ally of the Sena-BJP, has blamed the NCP chief Sharad Pawar for not resolving the issue and for playing votebank politics. “For the past six decades, Pawar has not resolved the issue but used the community as a vote bank. The NCP in its Lok Sabha manifesto has promised to include the Dhangars in the ST category but now it is playing politics over the issue, which is unacceptable. The NCP should fulfill its promise before the Assembly elections. Otherwise, it will face the community’s wrath at the polls,” said Jankar, adding that the he would personally take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress, for the time being, is playing safe as it doesn’t want to hurt the tribal community which has always stood behind the party. However, while the code of conduct for the Assembly election could come into force in the second half of August, the Congress-NCP government is in a fix to resolve the issue at the earliest.