Key Takeaways
- The Maratha community is demanding OBC quota reservation and nine other demands from the state government, including the implementation of Sage Soyare notification.
- Quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil has begun his sixth indefinite hunger strike in Jalna, Maharashtra, to press for the demands.
- The hunger strike has the potential to impact the assembly polls in Maharashtra, likely in November this year.
Jalna: Quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil began his sixth indefinite hunger strike from Monday midnight in Antarwali Sarati village, Ambad taluka, demanding OBC quota reservation and nine other demands from the state government, including the implementation of Sage Soyare notification, Hyderabad, and Satara Gazette.
Before starting his hunger strike, ‘Jarange Patil has taken darshan of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue.
Numbers of Maratha community members have thronged to the hunger strike venue since Monday.
He said that if the government failed to meet the demands, including reservation for Marathas in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota, the community would be free to take its political decision ahead of the assembly polls, likely in the month of November this year.
Jarange-Patil has earlier warned the government that he would field candidates for all 288 assembly seats in the state polls if his demands were not met.
He clarified that we are not concerned with politics and will not speak a word about it now. I am starting my indefinite hunger strike for the demand of the Maratha reservation.
Apart from OBC quota reservation, the government should also fulfill the other eight demands of the Maratha community. This is another opportunity for the government to make a positive change, Manoj Jarange-Patil said.
‘Chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis should implement the ‘sage soyare’ notification with immediate effect and give Kunbi caste certificates accordingly,’ he added.
This is the sixth indefinite hunger strike of Jarange-Patil since September 1, 2023, when police had baton-charged protesters at Antarwali Sarati in Jalna district.
It may be noted that due to the Jarange-Patil agitation since last year, ruling Mahayuti alliance partner parties BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP-Ajit Pawar Group had suffered major setbacks in the recent Lok Sabha election and only managed to win 17 seats out of 48.
