Activist Manoj Jarange has criticized the Maharashtra government for extending the permission for his hunger strike for Maratha reservation by only one day. He warned that Marathas from across the state will come to Mumbai if their quota demand is not met quickly, threatening to escalate the protest and stop taking water in the next two days.
Manoj Jarange's protest for Maratha quota at Mumbai's Azad Maidan enters its third day. Jarange is demanding 10% quota for Marathas and recognition as Kunbis. Maharashtra ministers suggest the community avail the existing EWS quota.
Activist Manoj Jarange vows to intensify his hunger strike for Maratha reservation under OBC, while the Maharashtra government seeks legal opinion on the issue.
The Eastern Freeway, Sion-Panvel highway, V N Purav Road, P D'Mello Road, Wallchand Hirachand Marg, Dr Dadabhai Nauroji Road and Hajarimal Somani Road will be closed for all types of vehicular traffic except emergency service vehicles, said the official.
OBC activist Laxman Hake was allegedly manhandled and verbally abused by members of the Maratha community in Pune, and a video of the incident surfaced on social media, the police said on Tuesday.
The upper portion of the vehicle was damaged before locals rushed to the spot and helped douse the flames.
The government is thrusting new leaders to the fore and moving others aside to create a rift between the Maratha and OBC communities, he said, stressing that those protesting over their demand for non-dilution of the OBC quota are not at fault.
A 45-year-old Maratha quota activist allegedly committed suicide in Bandra area of Mumbai in the early hours of Thursday leaving behind a note in which he urged community members to fight for the cause, a police official said.
The Maratha community is not backward and hence it does not require reservation in government jobs and education, a petitioner argued before the Bombay high court on Wednesday.
Quota activist Manoj Jarange demands the Maharashtra government implement a GR for issuing Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas before September 17, threatening further action if the deadline is missed.
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.
Speaking to reporters at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district, the activist said he would wait and see if the state government converts its draft notification on 'blood relatives' of Kunbi Marathas into law and then decide on the course of his agitation.
The Maharashtra chief minister, Ashok Chavan on Thursday said he would convene an all-party meeting next week to decide on the contentious issue of reservations for the Maratha community.
The situation is currently under control, Beed Superintendent of Police Nandkumar Thakur told PTI.
The activist said leaders opposing Maratha interests would face consequences in the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections.
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.
Activist Manoj Jarange announced victory after the Maharashtra government's cabinet sub-committee on Maratha quota accepted most of his demands, including giving Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Marathas, on the fifth day of his indefinite fast.
He also appealed to the protesters to park their vehicles only in the designated parking areas, hours after the high court frowned on the conduct of protesters.
The previous Congress-NCP government had issued an ordinance to grant a 16 per cent quota to Marathas and five per cent to Muslims.
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Saturday launched a fresh indefinite hunger strike in Maharashtra's Jalna district, demanding implementation of the draft notification that recognises Kunbis as blood relatives of the Maratha community members.
Protesters were seen thronging the main junctions in south Mumbai, causing traffic snarls during the morning peak hours.
Hingoli MP Hemant Patil submitted his resignation to the Lok Sabha secretariat in New Delhi on Monday, while Nashik MP Hemant Godse sent his resignation letter to CM Shinde.
The video, shot before the commencement of a press conference after an all-party meeting on Monday on the demand for reservation to Maratha community, shows Shinde asking the other two leaders, "We just need to speak and leave, right?" While Ajit Pawar promptly replies, "Yes, right," Fadnavis is seen whispering in Shinde's ear and pointing out that the microphone is on. Pawar is also seen indicating the same.
He made the announcement after Maharashtra minister and member of Maratha quota sub-committee Shambhuraj Desai, Shiv Sena MP Sandipan Bhumre met him at his native Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district and discussed the issue.
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.
'When the chief minister saw how Manoj Jarange Patil had successfully held the state government hostage to his whims, Eknath Shinde knew he had a very clear chance of enamouring himself to these Maratha agitators by accepting Patil's demands.'
Wadettiwar said he was not opposed to the idea of increasing the overall quota ceiling to accommodate the Maratha community.
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.
A protest for Maratha reservation in Jalna district of central Maharashtra turned violent on Friday, leading to dozens of persons including police personnel getting injured, officials said.
Leaders at an all-party meeting on Maratha quota chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday passed a resolution asking activist Manoj Jarange to call off his indefinite fast.
As violence broke out, police baton-charged the protesters and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse them. Several persons, including 40 police personnel, were injured and more than 15 state transport buses were set ablaze. More than 360 persons were booked in connection with the violence, police said.
Jarange's hunger strike at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai over the demand for Maratha quota entered the fifth day on Tuesday.
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.
If Marathas get blanket Kunbi OBC certificates, there will be no separate identity of the Maratha community in Maharashtra, state minister and senior OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal said on Wednesday amid the quota row.
Several legislators cutting across party lines in Maharashtra on Thursday staged an agitation outside the Mantralaya, the state secretariat in south Mumbai, in support of the demand for reservation to the Maratha community.
Raut was referring to the recent war of words between state ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Shambhuraj Desai.
A group of Maratha reservation activists torched the first floor of the Majalgaon Municipal Council building and vandalised it in Maharashtra's Beed district, soon after setting on fire the residence of local NCP MLA Prakash Solanke on Monday, the police said.
The activist claimed that state minister Uday Samant phoned him in the morning to assure that the chief minister and the deputy CMs were committed to granting reservation.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday announced the withdrawal of police cases filed against pro-Maratha reservation protesters in Jalna district, the epicentre of the latest round of stir on the issue, and urged quota activist Manoj Jarange to end his indefinite fast.
Dharashiv, earlier Osmanabad, is among the eight districts that comprise the state's Marathwada region, where activist Manoj Jarange has led an agitation demanding reservation for Marathas in education and government jobs.
