Alleged Conspiracy Over Kunbi Certificate Cancellation Sparks Political Turmoil

Political tension escalated in Maharashtra on Thursday after activist Manoj Jargane Patil alleged a strategic conspiracy to revoke Kunbi caste certificates. The controversy erupted following the Caste Verification Committee’s decision to nullify the certificates of four female Maratha representatives from the Marathwada region.

Patil accused senior ministers, including the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, of coordinating the move to weaken the Maratha vote bank. He presented a dossier of alleged communications suggesting that the revenue minister personally instructed officials to cancel the certificates after losing a local election.

He warned that the betrayal could provoke a massive backlash in the 2029 electoral cycle, describing the cancellation as an intentional betrayal of the community that propelled his party to power.

The Chief Minister rejected the narrative, reiterating that the committee is an autonomous body operating under Supreme Court directives and that the state does not meddle in its rulings.

Official data indicated that the committee rejects roughly ten to twelve percent of applications across categories, with higher rejection rates — up to twenty‑five percent — for certain non‑Kunbi OBC certificates. The Chief Minister stressed that these figures reflect normal procedural outcomes rather than targeted discrimination.