Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on Sunday levelled serious allegations against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, taking everybody by surprise. He claimed several attempts had been made to poison his saline bottle while he had been on a hunger strike.
“Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis wants to finish the Maratha influence and the community from the State. He wants my sacrifice. I march towards his residence, Sagar Bungalow, right now,” Mr. Jarange-Patil said in his hour-long speech from Antarwali-Sarati village in Jalna district of Maharashtra, addressing supporters gathered in large numbers.
His declaration on a march to the Deputy CM’s residence resulted in chaos. “I will march alone with the support of a stick,” Mr. Jarange-Patil said, even as his supporters tried to calm him down and take the microphone away from him.
His speech included fiery attacks against Mr. Fadnavis. “Devendra Fadnavis conspired against me and Marathas. He wants to create hurdles in the implementation of Sage-Soyare notification. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar are powerless before Fadnavis as he is the decision-maker in the State. He is using divide and rule politics in the Maratha community. He is the one behind all the fake allegations by Ajay Baraskar,” Mr. Jarange-Patil claimed.
Mr. Baraskar had alleged that Mr. Jarange-Patil had struck a deal with the government and changed his demands. Known as a writer-orator, Mr. Baraskar was with the Prahaar party led by Bachchu Kadu, from which he was removed after his press meet last Wednesday.
“As I am challenging the government and not giving in, Fadnavis is making all attempts to defame me or to make sure I die on hunger strike. The reason I stopped taking the saline bottle last night was because I learnt that attempts are being made to poison me through the saline bottle. So, it is better I go to Sagar Bungalow’s door rather than die on hunger strike here,” Mr. Jarange-Patil said.
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He also accused Mr. Fadnavis of conspiring to get him killed in an encounter.
Hitting back at the quota activist, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane said that Mr. Jarange-Patil would have to cross a “huge wall of party workers” to reach Mr. Fadnavis. “He is reading a scripted line. He should stop stooping to such a low level to make such allegations against Mr. Fadnavis. He should enter politics,” Mr. Rane said.
Mumbai BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar said Mr. Jarange-Patil’s “true face” was now in the open for all to see. “The Maharashtra government has given 10% reservation to the Maratha community [through a Bill passed in the Assembly 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,” Mr. Bhatkhalkar said.
