Maratha quota movement leader Jarange heads to Mumbai; govt says ready for talks

Mumbai: Activist Manoj Jarange and his supporters were set to reach the outskirts of Mumbai on Thursday evening ahead of his indefinite hunger strike for reservations for the Maratha community, while the Maharashtra government said it was ready for talks.

The police deployed over 1,500 personnel at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai where Jarange will be launching his agitation from Friday. His supporters started trickling in at the protest site from Thursday itself.

This was the right time for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to win the hearts of Maratha community by accepting the reservation demand, the 43-year-old activist said after reaching Pune.

State minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who heads a cabinet sub-committee on the Maratha quota issue, said the government was ready to talk with Jarange, and it was the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) which failed to protect the quota granted earlier.

The activist set out for Mumbai from his Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district on Wednesday, and reached Shivneri Fort, the birthplace of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, in Pune district with hundreds of his supporters on Thursday morning.

"I would like to once again reiterate my appeal to Chief Minister Fadnavis that this is the right opportunity for him to win the hearts of the Maratha community by implementing our demands....You are not our enemy. We urge you to give up the adamant stand towards the Maratha community," Jarange said.

"If you are giving one-day permission for the protest (at Azad Maidan), then fulfil the demand for quota in one day. One day is not sufficient for our protest. We urge the government to withdraw all the conditions (laid down before granting permission for the protest)," he said.

By giving permission to hold the protest only for a day, the government was "insulting" him and the Maratha community, Jarange said, adding, "My request to the CM is not to impose any conditions, like one-day protest or (maximum) 5,000 protesters....I will not go back even if they fire bullets at me."

He also appealed to his supporters to remain patient while protesting, and not get provoked.

Jarange has been demanding that all Marathas be recognised as Kunbis – an agrarian caste included in the OBC category – which will make them eligible for reservation in government jobs and education. The OBC leaders are opposed to this proposal.

Water Resources Minister Vikhe Patil, meanwhile, told reporters in Shirdi that talks would take place with Jarange in Mumbai. The activist had earlier claimed that Vikhe Patil had sent him a message that a government delegation would meet him at Shivneri, but the minister on Thursday said it was a misunderstanding.

“The government has always maintained a positive stand. We are open to discussions with Jarange, but since he is firm on going to Mumbai for his protest, we will talk to him there. A decision will be taken after consulting the cabinet sub-committee members on Friday,” he said.

Vikhe Patil also said the Maratha quota issue will not be resolved if personal attacks were made against chief minister Fadnavis. Jarange had earlier called Fadnavis “anti-Hindu” and “anti-Maratha”.

The MVA could not safeguard the Maratha reservation, the BJP minister said, referring to the scrapping of the quota, granted in 2018 when Fadnavis was CM, by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court on May 5, 2021, struck down reservations for the Marathas in college admissions and jobs in Maharashtra, saying there were no exceptional circumstances to justify the breach of the 50 per cent ceiling on overall reservations. The MVA led by Uddhav Thackeray governed the state then.

Speaking elsewhere, chief minister Fadnavis said his government was committed to protect the interests of both the Marathas and OBCs, and did not intend to pit the two communities against each other.

"We will not allow injustice to happen to the OBCs, and Marathas should know that it is my government which has worked for the community's welfare. The reservation granted (to the Marathas) by our government is still legally valid," he said.

The reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) resolved the reservation issues in other states, but in Maharashtra, the way of looking at the EWS quota was not yet positive, Fadnavis said.

The Marathas already have 10 percent quota, and still there is a demand for reservations, he said, noting that there are more than 350 sub- castes among OBCs.

"Still, we will try to understand what the protesters have to say," the CM said.