In the lead-up to the Lok Sabha polls, a series of political maneuvers and defections have reshaped the dynamics in Maharashtra s Madha constituency. Initially, the NCP s Sharad Pawar aimed to field Dhangar community leader Mahadev Jankar against BJP MP Ranjitsingh Nimbalkar, leveraging Jankar s influence over the significant Dhangar voter base.
On Friday in a setback for approximately 1.5 crore people of the Dhangar (shepherd) community in Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court dismissed pleas seeking Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the.
The petitioners could not establish that the ‘Dhangad’ community did not exist in Bombay when the ‘sacrosanct’ Presidential Order of 1950 was issued, the court observed.