‘Maratha Kranti Morcha’ leader floats political party to press for quota

However, it has come under fire from other leaders within the Morcha who are strongly opposed to the formation of any political party to press for reservation demands.

Against the backdrop of a growing schism among Maratha community leaders agitating for a quota, Suresh Patil, one of the supposed convenors of the ‘Maratha Kranti Morcha’, floated his own political on Thursday with the sole aim of securing reservation for the Maratha community.

However, the launch, which took place at the historic Raireshwar Temple in Bhor taluk, 85 km from Pune, has come under fire from other leaders within the Morcha who are strongly opposed to the formation of any political party to press for reservation demands.

Mr. Patil named his party the ‘Maharashtra Kranti Sena’ after caving in to pressure from other Morcha coordinators who have issued appeals to community members not to support any political party using the word ‘Maratha’ in its name. He also claimed the backing of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Udayanraje Bhosale, an important Maratha leader from Satara

Mr. Patil further said the nascent party would contest in five seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Leaders within the Maratha Kranti Morcha and the Sakal Maratha Samaj — the two umbrella outfits spearheading the quota agitation — distanced themselves from Mr. Patil’s new party hours after its launch.

Morcha coordinators from Mumbai, led by Mahesh Rane, protested near the Raireshwar Temple, while other Maratha community leaders from Pune, Nashik and Aurangabad among other districts in the State disclaimed Mr. Patil’s association with the two umbrella organizations that have played a critical role in mobilizing the community in its political demands.

They dubbed Mr. Patil as an agent provocateur , acting on behalf of the ruling party and accused him of sowing discord within the pro-quota agitation before the elections.

“He [Mr. Patil] is nothing but an agent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party who has been deliberately unleashed with the objective to break the Maratha agitation for reservation,” said Mr. Rane, speaking to The Hindu .

Remarking on Mr. Patil’s “close ties” with senior BJP leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Shantaram Kunjir, a Morcha coordinator from Pune said that Mr. Patil’s contribution had been “minimal” throughout the quota agitation movement that had been characterized by collective decision-making.

“Right from the start, we were resolute that the ‘Maratha Kranti Morcha’ will not transform into a political outfit lead by individuals trying to hog the limelight and seek political gains,” Mr. Kunjir said, pointing out that the Maratha agitation had always been unique in the sense that it had no formal political leader or political party at its helm.

In Nashik, Morcha leaders accused Mr. Patil of piggybacking on the movement’s popularity for selfish gains.

Praveen Gaikwad, a prominent community leader, said that the move [of floating a political party] would benefit the ruling BJP government as it sought to isolate and divide the Maratha community.

Not a first

This is not the first instance where the agitation has been riven by factionalism

Earlier, Abasaheb Patil, another prominent Morcha coordinator, had gone on an indefinite strike in Parli in Beed district and had attempted to declare Parli as the future ‘nerve-center’ to decide the course of the agitation — a move which did not sit well with the other leaders.

After staging 58 gargantuan muk morchas (silent rallies) that shook Maharashtra in their sweep and magnitude since August 2016, the Morcha had called for an intensification of its agitation on the reservation issue in June this year.

However, the rifts within the leadership have come into sharp relief especially as the protests, no longer ‘silent’ in nature, turned steadily violent and aggressive.

On July 30, Chakan MIDC in Pune witnessed an unprecedented bout of violence following a shutdown call issued by the Morcha.

Likewise, the August 9 Maharashtra ‘bandh’ called by the Morcha saw agitators go on a vandalism spree in Aurangabad district’s industrial hub in Waluj, damaging property in more than 60 firms and plants amounting to more than ₹20 crore.

While a section of the Morcha coordinators have warned of resuming an indefinite protest from December 1 if the State government failed to grant a quota to the Maratha community, there appears to be no consensus on decision-making within the Morcha leadership.