Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil on Tuesday ended his hunger strike in Mumbai after the Maharashtra government accepted his demands and issued a Government Resolution on recognising the Hyderabad Gazetteer that states Marathas are Kunbis and that Kunbi caste certificates will be given to eligible Marathas.

The move would entail Marathas from Marathwada getting Kunbi caste certificates and reservation benefits under the OBC category.

The resolution to the stir came after minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil met Jarange Patil in the evening and said that the Cabinet sub-committee had decided to accept the 'Hyderabad Gazette' which recognises Marathas from Marathwada as Kunbis.

The GR states, "In accordance with the historical reference contained in the Hyderabad Gazetteer, a dedicated scrutiny process shall be conducted to verify documents and establish eligibility of persons from the Maratha community for Kunbi caste certificates."

The state government has also decided to accept the 'Satara Gazette' that mentions Marathas in western Maharashtra as Kunbi-Marathas. Vikhe Patil said the GR on the Satara Gazette would be implemented in a month. By this move Maratha community in western Maharashtra would also get Kunbi caste certificates. Jarange Patil had conveyed to the government, "If you issue a Government Resolution, we will end the stir and leave Mumbai by 9 pm. This is a time for celebration. Today is a Diwali for us."

Possible legal challenges

The state government's move will see legal challenges as the OBC communities were opposed to Marathas being included in the category as they have been arguing that the Marathas are not a socially and educationally backward community and including them would make the OBC category more crowded. There are already more than 350 different communities in the OBC list.

OBCs Won't be impacted: CM

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said OBC communities would not be impacted with the move. "We were okay with implementing the Hyderabad Gazette earlier too, but Jarange Patil wanted a blanket reservation for all... We told him this could not be done as the high court and the Supreme Court had given judgements on this. He agreed to our view and hence the stalemate has been removed."