All party legislators oppose Scheduled Caste sub-categorisation in Maharashtra

3 min readMumbaiUpdated: Jun 29, 2026 10:16 PM IST

An all party delegation of SC legislators on Monday met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding the cancellation of Justice (Retd) Anant Badar committee report. (File Photo)

Opposing the proposed sub-categorisation of Scheduled Caste (SC) community, an all party delegation of SC legislators on Monday met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding the cancellation of Justice (Retd) Anant Badar committee report.

“All of us (SC legislators) have come together irrespective of our respective political parties and beliefs. We unitedly raised the demand that sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes should be cancelled and submitted a letter of demand to Chief Minister. He has agreed to give our demands a detailed attention,” said Rajkumar Badole, ruling NCP MLA and former minister after the meeting.

He said that 27 out of 29 SC legislators were present for the meeting.

The meeting comes a day prior to the protest march called by Ambedkarite organisations in Mumbai against the proposed sub-categorisation. Badole said that the said protest will be one of the biggest in recent times.

Legislators demanded that the report of the former Justice Anant Manohar Badar Committee be immediately cancelled; the proposed process of sub-categorisation (A, B, C, D) of Scheduled Castes should be stayed immediately and permanently cancelled; the entire report of the former Justice Badar Committee, the BARTI report, all raw data, research methodology, survey reports, minutes of meetings, and recommendations should be made public immediately.

Former minister and NCP MLA Sanjay Bansode said that sub-categorisation would harm the interests of smaller castes in SC category.

A single-member committee, appointed under the chairmanship of Justice Anant Manohar Badar, retired judge, Patna High Court, had submitted its report to the government on March 16, 2026, regarding the sub-categorisation of Scheduled Caste reservations.

Following this, a committee was established under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary via a Government Resolution dated April 10, 2026, to invite objections, opinions, and statements on this report and to conduct hearings. The objections were raised as the report was never made public and despite that suggestions and objections were called on the same.

In Maharashtra, neo-Buddhists—largely from the Mahar community within the Scheduled Castes—have historically dominated the discourse around SC politics. The proposed sub-categorisation is also seen by observers as an attempt to consolidate support among Hindu SC communities and to possibly compromise the unity of Dalit vote bank, especially after the setback BJP received in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Alok Deshpande is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express' Mumbai bureau, recognized for his focused and authoritative reporting on governance, politics, and the socio-economic dynamics of Maharashtra's hinterlands. His unique academic background in Geology and early work in the water sector provides a specialized layer of Expertise to his reporting on resource and environmental issues.

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