Three Maharashtra cabinet ministers — Chhagan Bhujbal of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena ministers Sanjay Rathod and Gulabrao Patil — walked out of the state cabinet sub-committee meeting on Other Backward Class (OBC) issues on Tuesday, 2 September, alleging a deliberate shortage of funds and administrative bias against the OBC community. The walkout threw the high-level panel into disarray and forced committee chairman Chandrashekhar Bawankule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to publicly reprimand senior officials.

Why Ministers Walked Out

According to officials present at the meeting, Bhujbal flagged that the OBC sub-committee had not convened for three months — and that it had finally been called only after OBC organisations announced protests against pressure tactics attributed to Maratha social activist Manoj Jarange-Patil. Bhujbal reportedly alleged administrative bias, questioning why funds earmarked for OBC welfare schemes were being withheld while other communities received disbursements on demand. The three ministers walked out on these unresolved grievances, with other members — including ministers Atul Save and Ganesh Naik — remaining in the meeting.

Bawankule's Response to Officials

After the walkout, committee chairman Bawankule directed the Finance Department to immediately release budget-approved funds to the OBC Department, stating there was a legal obligation to do so. He said officials had engaged in 'dilatory tactics' and that such delays were unacceptable. He added that the government would not allow any OBC corporation or welfare scheme to face a funds crunch.

Key Decisions from the Meeting

Despite the disruption, Bawankule said 13 to 14 important issues were discussed, including land allocation for OBC student hostels across the state, disbursement of pending scholarship amounts, and inclusion of 36 OBC castes in the central list. A key resolution was adopted to address the funding crisis in OBC corporations by December, with certain proposals to be forwarded to the State Planning Committee.

The Mahajyoti Funding Crisis

The meeting spotlighted the financial strain on Mahajyoti — the state's OBC development corporation. While all corporations, including Mahajyoti, were allocated ₹300 crore each, Mahajyoti has demanded ₹1,000 crore, citing a shortfall that has already forced the suspension of certain courses. Officials were directed to present the rationale for why the ₹300 crore allocation is insufficient before the sub-committee, with a proposal then to be placed before the full cabinet. Separately, pending bills of ₹125 crore were ordered to be forwarded immediately to the Finance Department, and a ₹126 crore liability for PhD fellowships under Mahajyoti is to be cleared by December.

Broader Context

The walkout comes amid heightened political tension over OBC representation in Maharashtra, with the Maratha reservation agitation led by Manoj Jarange-Patil putting pressure on the state government to act on community demands. OBC groups have long argued that any expansion of Maratha quotas could come at the expense of their existing reservation share. Tuesday's events signal that intra-alliance friction over OBC welfare — spanning the BJP, NCP, and Shiv Sena coalition — is intensifying ahead of the political calendar.