Maratha reservation: Jarange accuses Fadnavis for trying killing him, marches to his Mumbai's residence

Manoj Jarange. File pic/PTI

The protest for Maratha reservation in the state has taken an chaotic mode on Sunday after the Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange accused that Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is conspiring to sabotage the protests by Maratha community demanding reservation. On Sunday, taking a aggressive stand, Jarange also announced that he will march to Mumbai and protest outside Fadnavis' residence. Jarange also accused that Fadnavis is trying to kill him.

Addressing a gathering at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district, Jarange claimed that Fadnavis was trying to defame him by roping in people to malign his image. At the end of the speech, his announcement to march directly to Mumbai, took his supporters by surprise." Some people are being lured and pressured to make false allegations against me. Fadnavis is behind these conspiracies. He wants to kill me. I am ready to march to Sagar bungalow (Fadnavis' official residence in Mumbai, Malabar Hill) right away," Jarange announced.

The announcement has led to a chaos at the site, where the activist's supporters had gathered in large numbers. Even as some of them tried to take away his microphone, Jarange said he would march to Mumbai alone and all he needed was a stick for support. The supporters also made slogans and heavy security is deplyoed at the site. Jarange urged the security forces to not stop his vehicle. He also told his supporters to let him march to Mumbai alone.

Hitting back, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane warned Jarange that he would have to cross a "huge wall of party workers" to reach Fadnavis, adding that the quota activist was "now reading from a script".
"He should enter politics but he should not stoop low to make such allegations against Fadnavis," Rane said.

Mumbai BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar said Jarange's "true face" was now in the open for all to see. "The Maharashtra government has given 10 per cent reservation to the Maratha community (through a bill passed in the Legislature on February 20). Why is he continuing to protest? Fadnavis was CM for five years and everyone knows him. His image is not going to be affected by Jarange's allegations," Bhatkhalkar said.

Jarange also said, "When the lathi-charge happened during protests in Jalna last year, Fadnavis had to apologise. This hurt him deeply, so he is trying to sabotage the Maratha quota protest." He claimed that the state government was run by Fadnavis, not Chief Minister Eknath Shinde or Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

The activist alleged that Fadnavis was trying to threaten the Marathas in the state, and the move would backfire on him, addind that some Maratha leaders in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were helping Fadnavis defame him.

"If I die, place my body in front of his house," he said.

Earlier this week, the Maharashtra legislature unanimously passed a bill providing 10 per cent reservation for the Marathas in education and government jobs under a separate category, but Jarange is firm on his demand for quota for the community under the Other Backward Class category.

(With PTI inputs