Last year, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Maharashtra government cleared the long-pending quotas in education and jobs for Marathas and reaped rich benefits at the hustings, bagging 42 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Now, as the Assembly elections are round the corner, other groups including the Dhangar community (shepherds) are demanding separate reservation, as are Muslims and Lingayats.

The Maratha Kranti Thok Morcha (MKTM), which spearheaded the cause of the community's demands for past over four years, finally notched victory last year with the state government acceding to 16 per cent quota for Marathas with unanimous support from all parties.