Jalna, Sep 17 (IANS) Terming it as his final agitation for Maratha reservation, Shivba Sanghatana leader Manoj Jarange-Patil launched his 6th indefinite hunger strike in 12 months and said he was giving “one more chance” to the MahaYuti government to fulfil its commitments, here on Tuesday.
Jarange-Patil went off food from midnight surrounded by hordes of his anxious supporters in Antarvali-Sarati village even as the state celebrated the concluding day of the 11-day-long Ganeshotsav festival with gusto.
This is also billed as the ‘last’ agitation by Jarange-Patil as Maharashtra prepares for the much-anticipated state Assembly elections, likely to be announced shortly.
Taking no chances, the frail but determined Jarange-Patil called upon the government to implement the draft notification of ‘sage-soyare’ (family bloodline) to widen the scope of Maratha quotas and to issue Kunbi Caste Certificates, among other things.
“What the Maratha community is asking for, they are not giving…” rued Jarange-Patil, speaking to the media this afternoon in the marquee, which has virtually been his second home for the past year.
He also slammed the ruling MahaYuti allies – Bharatiya Janata Party’s Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and Nationalist Congress Party’s Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is a prominent OBC leader – for being insensitive to the cause of the Marathas.
“They are both casteist people… If the Marathas don’t get the reservations as promised, we shall make the government suffer,” reiterated Jarange-Patil of his threats to ensure the defeat of MahaYuti candidates in the Assembly polls.
It may be recalled that the MahaYuti had suffered in several regions in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections owing to the Maratha quota demands and the OBCs’ tough resistance to it, posing a huge challenge to the Shiv Sena Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is also a Maratha.
Last year, the state government carried out a massive exercise to scan through piles of Kunbi-Maratha and Maratha-Kunbi records and recovered several lakhs of entries.
Claiming that his stance was vindicated, Jarange-Patil said that Kunbis, falling under OBCs, comprise a sub-caste of Maratha and hence entitled to the quota privileges.
Later, in February 2024, the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Bill, 2024, was passed unanimously in the state legislature paving the way for a 10 per cent quota.
However, Jarange-Patil’s demands to declare Maratha as ‘Kunbis’ and carve them a separate quota from the OBCs – stoutly opposed by Bhujbal and other OBCs groups – hangs fire.
“The government should issue a notification declaring that Kunbis and Marathas are the same, to simplify the issue,” declared Jarange-Patil.
–IANS
qn/dan
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
