Maratha activists try to damage advocate Sadavarte's car

Jalna, Sept 21 (PTI) Protesters attempted to attack the car of advocate Gunratna Sadavarte, a vocal critic of the Maratha quota demand and activist Manoj Jarange, in Jalna on Sunday afternoon, police said.

They raised slogans against Sadavarte and hurled stones at his vehicle when he was going to meet Dhangar activist Deepak Borhade, who has been on a fast for five days demanding the community's inclusion under the ST category.

Police intervened swiftly and detained several agitators.

Sadavarte, based in Mumbai, has consistently opposed the Maratha reservation movement, led by Jarange. He has argued that the Hyderabad gazette and other related demands are unconstitutional, a stance that has triggered strong resentment among Maratha protesters.

Speaking after the incident, Sadavarte launched a sharp counterattack on Jarange and his supporters, calling them "ignorant of the Constitution" and dismissing the attack as an act of cowardice.

"This is not the Congress era. This is the era of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis," he told reporters.

Sadavarte said it was shocking that the Jalna district collector had not yet met Borhade.

Jarange has led protests and observed fasts multiple times, demanding the reservation for the Maratha community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

In response, the state government had issued a resolution (GR) earlier this month on the implementation of the Hyderabad gazette to expedite the issuance of Kunbi (an OBC caste) certificates to Marathas from the Marathwada region who can prove their Kunbi caste antecedents. PTI COR NSK