India, Feb. 15 -- The state government may quietly bury the draft notification to extend quota benefits associated with the Kunbi caste - which is part of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community - to the "sage soyare" (those related by birth or marriage) of eligible Marathas. For a year now, the state government has not taken any steps to convert the draft notification into a formal notification as the Bharatiya Janata Party - the largest party in the Mahayuti coalition - is opposed to it.

The Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government had issued the draft notification on January 26 last year, following aggressive agitations by Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil. A copy of the draft notification was also handed over to Jarange-Pati...