Maratha activist Manoj Jarange has warned that the Maratha quota agitation will be restarted from June 4th, the day the results of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections will be out. A rally will be organised on June 8th to press the Maratha community’s demand for reservations in government jobs and admissions to educational institutes, he said.
“We want reservation for our kids…..We have been given 10% reservation (under the economically backward category) which is of no use. This has been proved in the (ongoing) police recruitment,” he told reporters after garlanding a statue of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj to mark the 17th century ruler’s birth anniversary.
“We will restart the agitation at 9 a.m. on June 4th by holding an indefinite hunger strike. The agitation will take place peacefully,” the activist said, adding that he hoped the government would look into his demands before that.
Preparations were in full swing for the rally at Narayangad in Beed district on June 8th, he said.
Asked about the impact of the Maratha agitation on the Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Jarange said, “I was not involved and have not campaigned for anyone. I just said that people should defeat those who were against us.”
However, he noted that no other Prime Minister had held so many campaign rallies in Maharashtra. “He [PM Nadenra Modi] had also never campaigned for different parties contesting on different symbols in the past. But this time he did that. This happened because of four or five State BJP leaders who have hatred for Marathas and other communities,” he said.
Among BJP leaders, deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Chandrakant Patil hate Marathas, he alleged, adding, “Fadnavis should shed this hatred as we were never against BJP.”
If the government did not grant Kunbi caste certificates to the relatives of the Marathas who have obtained such a certificate, “we will be in the fray for the coming Assembly polls,” Mr. Jarange warned. The agrarian Kunbi community is part of the OBC group in the State.
