Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil on Saturday threatened a renewed agitation starting on October 25 if the Maharashtra government does not meet the demands of the Maratha community, which include reservations in jobs and educational institutions.
Expressing his concerns, he said: “I don’t know what the government is doing. Tomorrow, we will hold a meeting in Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna [district] to chart out our next course of action. The government should be aware that the peaceful agitation of the Maratha community is something they cannot ignore.”
The 40-year-old activist recently brought the Maratha quota issue to the forefront in the State by staging a hunger strike at Antarwali Sarati on August 29. The situation escalated when police took action at the hunger strike site on September 1, resulting in injuries to several individuals.
He ended his hunger strike on September 14 after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met him at the venue and assured him that the government would take a positive stand on his demands.
At the time, Mr. Patil and fellow protestors had given the state “one month’s time” to secure reservation for the community, with the October 24 deadline for the government to announce quota provisions.
He recently alleged that Other Backward Classes (OBC) are receiving “excessive benefits” from the reservation system. He added that the Maratha community in the State should receive the quota benefits as originally recommended by the Mandal Commission for the OBCs.
On Thursday, a Maratha quota activist, Sunil Kawale (45), from Chikangaon in Jalna district ended his life in Mumbai’s Bandra area over the issue of reservation.
