Maratha quota: Akola village bans entry of leaders till reservation is declared

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Maratha quota: Residents of Charangaon in Maharashtra's Akola district on Sunday said that they have banned the entry of political leaders into the village till Maratha quota is declared in the state, reported the PTI.

According to the news agency, the villagers pointed to a board outside the village, in Patur taluka, proclaiming that no leader from any political party will enter till the state government declares reservations for the community in jobs and education.

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"Charangaon is the first area in Akola to take such a decision," claimed villager Rajesh Deshmukh, as per the PTI.

If political leaders can think about the future of their children, why not us and for that we need reservations, another villager said.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that the Maratha and Dhangar communities must be given reservation in jobs and education without impacting such benefits of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, according to the PTI.

A section of the Maratha community has been demanding including in the OBC segment for quota purposes, while the Dhangars want ST status.

Instead of playing with the life of Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, who is on a hunger strike, the Eknath Shinde government must provide reservations to the community and ensure social unit is not hurt, Uddhav Thackeray said in a statement, as per the PTI.

Manoj Jarange is on a fast unto death since October 25 in Jalna seeking quota for the community.

The state government is speaking "mann ki baat" while its "mann" has no emotions, the former chief minister said, according to the PTI.

"It has no intention to save Jarange's life," Thackeray alleged.

Manoj Jarange had undertaken a fast on August 29, which he broke on September 14 on the assurance of the state government about efforts to ensure the Maratha community is provided reservation.

However, after the October 24 deadline set by Jarange for provision of such quota passes, he sat on hunger strike a day after Dussehra.

In his statement, Thackeray said youth from the Maratha community were committing suicide over the quota demand.

"Will the government place the order of the reservation on the community's dead body," Uddhav Thackeray asked.

In the last few months, there have been multiple reports of Maratha community members committing suicide in different parts of the state in support of the quota demand.

(with PTI inputs)