With no let-up in the Maratha quota stir, beleaguered Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde called for an all-party meeting on November 1 in a bid to defuse the situation even as quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil issued a fresh 24-hour ultimatum to the government on Tuesday to grant immediate reservation to the Marathas via a special session of the State Legislature.
In his ultimatum to the CM and both Deputies (Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar), the activist warned of giving up drinking water from November 1 if the government did not immediately grant reservation for all Marathas.
“If you do not take a concrete decision by November 1, then I will stop drinking water from the evening onwards. I do not know the effect that will have on my health. But the State government will be responsible for everything henceforth. Maharashtra is peaceful. But our guess is that this government does not want the situation to remain so. So, I am warning the CM and his Deputy CMs, particularly one of them [alluding to Mr. Fadnavis] that they should not test our [Maratha community’s] limits,” Mr. Jarange Patil said.
Earlier today, CM Shinde and the Maharashtra cabinet accepted the first report of the Justice (retired) Sandeep Shinde committee, with the Chief Minister stating that the process of issuing OBC certificates to 13,498 Maratha community members identified as Kunbis on basis of old records had already begun. This, however, failed to pacify Mr. Jarange Patil.
As his indefinite hunger strike entered its seventh day, Mr. Jarange Patil, intransigent and steely-eyed as ever, categorically told CM Shinde he would not accept any “half-baked reservation” while insisting that the government would have to give Kunbi other backward classes (OBC) community certificates to all Marathas to enable them to enjoy reservation benefits currently granted to the OBCs.
“I clearly told the CM that we will not accept any half-baked reservation. We want a blanket reservation for all Marathas. Marathas and Kunbis are the same as they share the same primary occupation which is farming. Based on this, OBC Kunbi reservation certificates can be given to all the Marathas,” he said.
Mr. Jarange Patil observed that 60% of the Maratha community had already come under the ambit of reservation by virtue of being classed as OBC Kunbis.
“There are only a few of us remaining in the Marathwada region. The government should have no problem in giving reservation to us,” he said.
Meanwhile, the police arrested 49 persons linked to Monday’s violence which saw the homes of two NCP leader being torched by agitators besides several incidents of vandalism and arson. A curfew was imposed in parts of Beed district as well as Dharashiv (formerly Osmanabad) following these unruly incidents.
Maharashtra Deputy CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, on Tuesday announced that cases under Section 307 of the IPC (attempt to murder) against those who have indulged in violence and arson.
Lashing out at Mr. Fadnavis, Mr. Jarange Patil said: “Do you [Mr. Fadnavis] really know who burnt their [NCP legislators’] houses? The ruling government is doing all this, not ordinary Maratha protestors…The BJP is getting finished because of people like him [Fadnavis].”
When informed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had reportedly spoken to Mr. Fadnavis to express concern over the quota situation, Mr. Jarange Patil said that he would reveal the true situation if the BJP brass really cared to hear it.
The activist, resolute on carrying forward his hunger fast in Jalna’s Antarwali Sarati village, accused Mr. Fadnavis of pitting one cast against the other while warning OBC leaders and their followers not to hit the streets without any reason else the Marathas would be forced to respond in kind.
He warned the police to stop troubling agitators with the prohibitory orders.
“If you dare trouble any one of the quota protestors, then I will personally go and sit in front of collector’s office. Then, I do not know how many lakhs will follow me in support. If you trouble us, then I want to tell the CM clearly that we will reply in kind,” Mr. Jarange Patil said.
Even as restive Maratha agitators continued to block state and national highways besides indulging in stone-pelting at several places, the quota agitation turned into a political slanging match between ruling and Opposition parties.
Taking aim at CM Shinde for his alleged ‘failure’ to break the deadlock, ex-CM and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray urged the Centre to resolve the Maratha reservation issue by calling a special session of Parliament.
“Force the Prime Minister to take a decision on the Maratha reservation by calling a special session of Parliament in Delhi. All Union Ministers of BJP in Maharashtra in the Central Government Cabinet should demand that Modi put aside all issues in this meeting and resolve the issue of Maratha reservation first,” Mr. Thackeray said.
In a riposte, Mr. Shinde said it was Mr. Thackeray and his erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi which was responsible for “murdering” the Maratha reservation which had been granted during Mr. Fadnavis’ tenure as Maharashtra CM (2014-19).
