Maharashtra: Govt on edge over Maratha row setback

Alleging that the state government had dishonoured a deadline of 40 days for granting Marathas a quota, community activist Manoj Jarange Patil has resumed his fast unto death in Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district. He said the protest across the state will intensify if no concrete decision comes within two to three days.

Manoj Jarange Patil, a small-time activist, shot to prominence after his protest was lathi-charged by the police in the last week of August. Subsequently, he quit fasting after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited him and assured the quota that would sustain legal hurdles because the Maratha quota granted earlier was scrapped by the Supreme Court. The state government has filed a curative petition that is expected to be taken up soon. Shinde also vowed in the Dussehra rally on Tuesday that he was committed to giving Marathas a quota that would not be stayed or scrapped by the court.

Patil has demanded a Kunbi certificate for the community, giving it the OBC status

However, Patil has demanded the other backward class (OBC) status for Marathas. He wants the community to be given a certificate of Kunbi caste insisting that Marathas have forever been a part of the OBCs. It means the Marathas, if given an OBC status, will share the quota with many others, who are already up in arms against the government and the Marathas.

Sources said CM Shinde and Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis had left for New Delhi to discuss the matter among others ahead of PM Narendra Modi's event in Shirdi on Thursday. If possible, the PM might even make some announcement to appease the Marathas, OBCs and other caste groups such as Dhangars, who have been protesting over quota-related issues. The matter has become politically tricky for the BJP-led government in the Centre and state ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. At least three Maratha youth have committed suicide demanding the quota in one week.

Patil said the PM should do the needful. "The PM should make a call to the state government if he needs the poor to support him. Shinde and Fadnavis should make an announcement from Delhi," he said, adding that he would not take food, water and medicine from Wednesday onwards. He said the process was very simple, although it had been made complicated by the successive governments.

"Former Union minister Punjabrao Deshmukh had given Marathas a Kunbi certificate long ago. Were the people asked to produce evidence then?" he asked, adding that the Marathas and Kunbis were the same.

03
No. of Maratha youth who died by suicide in a week

Oct 24
Day CM Shinde promised quota at Dussehra rally