Maratha quota supporters ask NCP leader Jitendra Awhad to step down from stage in Thane

Maratha quota: Maratha quota supporters observing an indefinite fast in Thane reportedly asked NCP leader Jitendra Awhad to step down from the stage

Maratha quota: Maratha quota supporters observing an indefinite fast in Maharashtra's Thane city reportedly asked Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad to step down from the stage where they were carrying out the protest when he went to meet them, reported the PTI.

According to the PTI, The pro-quota activists, who have been staging the protest in front of the district collectorate since October 28, said they do want their agitation to be taken over by political leaders.

Former state cabinet minister Jitendra Awhad along with NCP city president Suhas Desai went to meet the protesting activists of the Sakal Maratha Samaj late Tuesday night.
Seeing Awhad on the stage, the protesters shouted, "No leader of any political party on stage...we do not want this agitation to be taken over by political parties. Are you going to give us reservation? No. Then you have no place on the stage. Get down, get down," as per the PTI.

The Sharad Pawar-faction NCP leader Jitendra Awhad later left from the spot.

People demanding Maratha reservation have been observing indefinite fasts at different places in Thane.

On Tuesday night, a group of people from Navi Mumbai took out a candle march in support of the Maratha quota demand.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said that the all-party meeting held earlier in the day decided that reservation should be given to the Maratha community without tampering with the existing quotas of other communities in the state, reported the PTI.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, CM Eknath Shinde also appealed activist Manoj Jarange, who is on hunger strike for Maratha reservation since October 25, to call off his fast and give the government some time, as per the PTI.

"The Maharashtra government is making honest efforts so that the Maratha community gets reservation benefits. The backward class commission is working on a war footing. The reservation given by the government when Devendra Fadnavis was chief minister was upheld by the Bombay High Court but struck down by the Supreme Court on the grounds of some errors. We want to avoid a repetition of this situation," CM Eknath Shinde added.

(with PTI inputs)

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