A Maratha protest in Mumbai caused significant traffic disruptions, particularly in the southern and eastern parts of the city, impacting office-goers and students. Train services were also affected.
Activist Manoj Jarange on Monday said he will set out on a tour of Maharashtra after the Diwali festival to meet Marathas and make them aware about the issue of reservation for the community.
"Out of 100, I will give minus zero marks to this GR," said activist Vinod Patil.
Quota activist Manoj Jarange has announced that he will start an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan in Mumbai from January 20 to intensify his demand of reservation for the Maratha community.
The assembly also witnessed a brief adjournment after the ruling alliance members pointed to remarks of Jarange and alleged there was a conspiracy to create unrest in the state.
The announcement, made at the end of a speech of more than one hour in Antarwali Sarati in Jalna in which Jarange made several allegations against Fadnavis, took his supporters by surprise.
Activist Manoj Jarange, whose indefinite fast over Maratha reservation entered the fifth day on Wednesday, started taking intravenous fluids after a Maharashtra minister assured to resolve the issue.
Petitions challenging the Maharashtra government's decision to issue Kunbi caste certificates to the Maratha community for reservation have been filed in the Bombay High Court. The pleas claim the decision is arbitrary and unconstitutional.
Maratha activist Manoj Jarange on Wednesday suspended his indefinite fast, which he began five days ago over the quota issue, stating that his community members say they want him alive to fight for the cause.
'All commercial and banking transactions happen in South Mumbai.'
Activist Manoj Jarange on Wednesday reiterated that he will stop drinking water from Wednesday evening if his demand for reservation to the Maratha community is not fulfilled by the Maharashtra government.
The Maharashtra government has formed a committee to facilitate the issuance of Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas who can provide documentary evidence recognizing them as Kunbis in the past, potentially opening the door for reservation benefits.
Jarange is a strident critic of the senior BJP leader and has routinely accused him of being the main obstacle in the Maratha community's quest for reservations.
NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal to challenge Maharashtra government's order expediting Kunbi caste certificates for Marathas, citing concerns from OBC leaders and seeking legal opinion on the government's authority to change people's caste.
He also criticised the government over an advertisement published in some prominent newspapers listing the steps taken for the welfare of the Maratha community.
'The (Maratha) community people have understood that this is the same reservation that they were given earlier also (but was later struck down)'
The BJP-led government's decision to grant Kunbi status to individuals from the Maratha community has opened a Pandora's box.
Referring to the demand of giving a Kunbi certificate to all 54 lakh people whose proof of being Kunabi has been found till now, Patil said that they will be given the certificates soon.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde addressed questions about advertisements featuring only CM Fadnavis, asserting that there is no race for credit among Mahayuti allies and that they are working as a team. He also commented on the Maratha reservation issue and the government's efforts to address it.
Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal opposes including Marathas in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota, citing limited reservation available for existing OBC communities and warning of potential protests if their share is reduced.
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Thursday ended his nine-day-old indefinite fast, but warned of a bigger agitation if no action was taken in two months on giving reservation benefits to the community.
Activist Manoj Jarange on Monday announced he was withdrawing his 17-day-old fast undertaken over the Maratha quota issue, but insisted he would continue his agitation until the Maharashtra government starts issuing Kunbi caste certificates to extended family members of people already having such documents, thereby allowing them to avail of reservation benefits.
As the 40-day deadline he set before the Maharashtra government to implement Maratha reservation came to an end, activist Manoj Jarange on Wednesday launched his indefinite fast to press for the demand for quota to the community.
Fasting Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange has stopped taking intravenous (IV) fluids and liquid, intensifying his agitation as he on Monday appealed to all political parties in Maharashtra to stand with the community on the reservation issue.
Addressing the media, Jarange, on an indefinite hunger strike since August 29 at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district in central Maharashtra demanding reservation in jobs and education for the Maratha community, asserted he would not succumb to pressure from either the government or the opposition on the quota issue.
Jarange appealed to Shinde and his deputies to come together and resolve the issue of Maratha quota, an emotive issue which has been dominating the state's political discourse for the last few months.
Political tensions rise in Maharashtra as OBC, SC, and ST groups express concerns over a government resolution on the Maratha quota. Chief Minister Fadnavis cautions against divisive politics, while Sharad Pawar accuses the government of weakening the social fabric.
Thousands of Maratha community members have turned the area surrounding Azad Maidan in Mumbai into a camp during their agitation for quota, disrupting traffic and daily life.
Shinde announced that his government is committed to providing reservation to the Maratha community.
Activist Manoj Jarange on Wednesday claimed that Maratha leaders earlier did not support quota for the community and there was also pressure from OBC leaders on the government for 30-40 years to not give reservation to Marathas.
The Bombay High Court has refused to grant an interim stay on the Maharashtra government's decision to issue Kunbi caste certificates to Maratha community members with OBC antecedents. Petitions challenging the decision were filed by OBC individuals, but the court declined immediate relief, pending a response from the government.
The NCP leader asked how suddenly a number of records showing Marathas as belonging to the Kunbi caste were being found.
Union minister Narayan Rane has opposed the Maharashtra government's decision to issue Kunbi caste certificates to the Maratha community members and said 'proud Marathas' would not want to be included in that caste segment to avail reservation benefits.
At the state level, Pawar appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the quota dispute.
The Bombay high court on Thursday said it was not inclined to hear PILs against the Maharashtra government's decision to issue Kunbi caste certificates to Maratha community members for reservation, noting the petitioners were not aggrieved persons.
Later in the afternoon, he also said that he was planning to hold a rally of the Maratha community at the protest site on October 12. "It will be attended by all the Marathas. It will show our plight and disappointment.... I will continue my protest here and will not even see the faces of my children till then," he said.
Jarange, whose hunger strike at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district for reservation for the community in government jobs and education entered 12th day, also rejected the fresh outcome of talks held with a delegation of Maratha community leaders and the government late on Friday night in Mumbai.
He also termed the draft notification issued by the state government providing Kunbi certificates to all Marathas as a mere 'eyewash', and said caste is determined by birth and not affidavits.
The quota and other issues of the Maratha community were discussed in the state cabinet meeting after which it was decided to hold a special session, the CMO statement said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis assures implementation of Bombay High Court directives regarding the Maratha quota protest led by Manoj Jarange, while also exploring legal options to resolve the issue. He condemned harassment of journalists and appealed to avoid politicizing the matter.
