Continuing his indefinite hunger strike for the second day on Sunday, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil warned that any political leader opposing the interests of the Maratha community would be defeated in the upcoming State Assembly election.
He also said that his good wishes would be with Prime Minister Narendra Modi only if he stopped working for the rich and focused on the needs of the poor.
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha election, the “Jarange factor” had hurt candidates of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the Marathwada region, resulting in the defeats of BJP leaders like Raosaheb Danve (Jalna), Pankaja Munde (Beed) and Prataprao Chikhalikar (Nanded). With the Mahayuti still reeling under the election shock, Mr. Jarange-Patil has given a further cause for worry after he warned he would field candidates in all 288 seats in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election.
“I am urging this government [Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti] to resolve all our demands pertaining to reservation. We do not want to enter politics… I have been saying this for the last 10 months. However, if the government keeps on ignoring us, I will have no alternative but to field candidates in all 288 Assembly seats,” said Mr. Jarange-Patil, speaking at Antarwali-Sarathi village in Jalna district.
This is the activist’s fourth hunger strike since September last year. Mr. Jarange-Patil urged Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take action against those who were allegedly attacking members of the Maratha community for not voting for Ms. Munde, the BJP candidate from Beed, in the recent election.
Tension prevailed in Beed over social media posts that allegedly targeted Ms. Munde, who had lost to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP)’s candidate Bajrang Sonawane. In retaliation, Mr. Jarange-Patil alleged that police authorities had been indiscriminately cracking down against innocent Maratha community youth.
“I again urge the Maratha community to remain quiet and restrain themselves. There is no need to put up posts targeting someone if they have lost the election. I do not condone such actions. However, I hear innocent youth are being beaten up by the police for this. I am warning the Home Minister [Mr. Fadnavis] and the Police Superintendent of Beed to stop framing Maratha community members,” said the activist, who has criticised Mr. Fadnavis in the past.
The activist further advised Marathas to concentrate on farming, given that the sowing season was under way, and not join him at the protest site at Antarwali Sarathi.
Mr. Jarange-Patil had embarked upon yet another indefinite fast on Saturday, demanding reservation for Marathas under the Other Backward Class (OBC) Kunbi category, and the implementation of the draft notification pertaining to blood relatives of all those Marathas for whom Kunbi OBC records had already been found.
On February 20 this year, Mr. Shinde had summoned a special session of the Maharashtra legislature wherein all members unanimously passed a Bill providing 10% reservation for the Marathas in education and government jobs under a separate category.
However, the move had failed to impress Mr. Jarange-Patil, who had said the Bill will not stand legal scrutiny in the Supreme Court.
