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.
The draft bill on reservation to Jats and four other castes was cleared at a Cabinet meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
"Till date, I do not know anything regarding the initiatives taken by the government," Bukhari said.
Until Tuesday, the state government had maintained the death toll at 19.
Activist Manoj Jarange, who has been sitting on an indefinite fast in Maharashtra's Jalna district over the demand for reservation to the Maratha community, has refused to get a health check-up done.
'By the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, they moved back to the BJP almost totally and later their backing helped us win the local body elections.'
This is the first conversation between Modi and Yunus after he assumed the responsibility following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government.
When I asked Krishna Gopal Sengupta, who had travelled through Bangladesh from Chittagong to Petrapole if the interim government had made any impact at ground level, he said, "it's been only a couple of days. They will need some time." Shyam G Menon reports from Petrapole, India's entry point with Bangladesh.
'He is just a 22 year old who has no knowledge of India's laws or Constitution. How will such a man handle a discussion on reservations in an intelligent, lawful manner?' 'Let me alert everybody that he is using the 1985 formula. Back then they opposed reservations based on caste for OBCs and now they want to be included in the same category. This clearly tells us what their intention is. They don't want reservations; they want reservations to be cancelled altogether.'
On Monday, five Army personnel were killed and five injured when heavily armed terrorists hurled a grenade and opened indiscriminate fire on two army vehicles around 3.30 pm on the Machedi-Kindli-Malhar mountainous road near Badnota village, about 150 km from the district headquarters Kathua.
The NCP leader asked how suddenly a number of records showing Marathas as belonging to the Kunbi caste were being found.
The disclosure by Chhagan Bhujbal that he resigned as a minister last November has put a focus on the Maratha quota tightrope the Eknath Shinde-led government is walking amid restlessness in OBCs, with Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray claiming Bhujbal and the Bharatiya Janata Party are hand in glove.
Lawyers have pointed out that the new laws increase police powers by extending the maximum limit of police custody from 15 days to 60 days or 90 days.
Separately, the hunger strike by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk in Leh to "remind" the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre of its promise to safeguard the Union Territory's fragile ecology and unique indigenous tribal culture entered its 15th day.
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.
The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the Karnataka high court judgment refusing to lift the ban on hijab in educational institutions of the state.
'This might prove to be a temporary gain for the BJP, but at a huge cost to the people of Gujarat and democracy in India.'
'Our children score very high marks, but do not get admission in good colleges. They get top rank, but they do not get jobs because they belong to the so-called forward caste.' 'What can we do when a boy or girl from the community with first rank is considered only at the 6th or 7th position for a government job just because those with reservation get precedence over us?'
The decision comes a day after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said a government-appointed committee scrutinised 1.72 crore old documents (including those of Nizam-era) and among them, 11,530 records were found where Kunbi caste was mentioned.
'When our daughters, wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Vignesh Phogat, were protesting at the Jantar Mantar, the police kicked them with their shoes.'
Jarange, who was earlier on a hunger strike in the village over his demand for reservation for the Maratha community under the OBC category, had ended his fast on September 14 on the 17th day after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met him and assured to fulfil his demand.
'The prime minister's comment on 'revdi culture' was welcome. But I am disappointed he did not follow up on that.' 'All political parties, including the BJP, have been guilty of this.' 'Now, Modi's guarantees, the Congress's 'nyay' path and both ruling and Opposition parties are vying with each other for freebies in my home state Andhra Pradesh.'
Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel has again postponed his 'reverse Dandi March', scheduled for Sunday, to September 15, claiming that he has been invited by a Cabinet minister for a meeting with the state chief minister on the issue.
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.
If an extension is granted, the Commission's next hearing will be a long one: From October 16-28, so as to complete the cross-examination of all remaining witnesses.
'This can eventually start the end of the current market frenzy, which has lasted for a full year.'
Maharashtra cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal has demanded a stay on the Kunbi caste certificates issued to Marathas following their latest agitation for reservation and scrapping of the Justice (retired) Sandeep Shinde committee formed over the quota issue.
He also criticised the government over an advertisement published in some prominent newspapers listing the steps taken for the welfare of the Maratha community.
Reservation is an albatross whose continuation under the current system risks creating deep fissures in our society, warns Vikram Johri.
While the markets have factored in a number close to 350 for the BJP and almost 400 for the NDA, 50 seats fewer could trigger a market correction
Talks resumed in Jaipur on Wednesday between Rajasthan government and agitating Gujjars who have been blocking rail tracks and roads in three districts for a week now to press for five per cent quota in government jobs.
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.
According to the Morcha, the demands which Delhi Chalo has been called include: MSP should be guaranteed as per C2+50 percent formula and, as promised, a law should be made to guarantee it; all the farmers should be made debt free, and all agricultural loan must be waived.
The Z+ security cover of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel has been extended to Khan and Raj Bhavan, his office said in a post on 'X'.
In the event of the BJP's poor performance in the assembly polls this year and in early 2025, Modi's hold will get further weakened because he will no longer remain the invincible electoral persona tightly controlling the machine at his disposal, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
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.
Maratha quota protester Manoj Jarange, who has been on a hunger strike in Maharashtra's Jalna district, said on Thursday that their agitation will continue till the state relaxes the condition of genealogy while giving Kunbi caste certificate to the community members from the Marathwada region.
State-run bus services have been completely suspended in five Marathwada districts while curfew and Internet shut-down have been imposed in parts of Beed where the houses of political leaders were targeted by protesters.
'There are legions of unemployed degree holders across rural and semi-urban belts in Maharashtra. Now, they aren't finding brides.' 'This issue has now snowballed into a social crisis. In 2014 and 2019, they had voted for the BJP.'
