Maratha quota: Manoj Jarange-Patil suspends indefinite fast; gives ultimatum to govt

Six days after launching his indefinite fast over the reservation issue, Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil on Thursday suspended his indefinite fast on Thursday and set a deadline for the Maharashtra government to accept the community's demands.

Six days after launching his indefinite fast over the reservation issue, Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil on Thursday suspended his indefinite fast on Thursday and set a deadline for the Maharashtra government to accept the community's demands. He gave the state government one month until July 13 to meet the community's demands.

Jarange announced this after a state government delegation led by Maharashtra Minister Shambhuraj Desai met him at Antarwali Sarati, in the Jalna district, and demanded that the state government be given time to implement the proposals. Jarange has been demanding reservations for the Marathas community under the OBC category for several years.

Earlier, Patil said that if the Maratha reservation is not provided this time, he will contest the Maharashtra Assembly elections that are expected to take place in October later this year. In April this year, Patil said that he would go on a hunger strike if the state government did not resolve the Maratha reservation issue by June 4.

He had criticized both the ruling Mahyuti tripartite alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi for "doing nothing" regarding the Maratha reservation. "We have been misled by the state government. Mahayuti has not given us Maratha reservation...When Maha Vikas Aghadi was in power, they did nothing for the Maratha reservation," he had said.

In February this year, the Maharashtra government, during a special assembly session, approved a Bill to extend 10 per cent reservation to the Marathas, based on a report submitted by the Maharashtra Backward Class Commission (MBCC). Patil had earlier in February this year ended his hunger strike against the government after 17 days. However, Jarange Patil opposed the reservation and insisted on a quota for the Marathas under the OBC category.

Jarange Patil's Maratha reservation campaign is accused of receiving financial support from 'political associates,' and it is alleged that he made inflammatory remarks during the campaign. Patil had claimed that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was conspiring to eliminate him (Manoj Patil) by poisoning him with saline. In a reply to the Manoj Patil claim, Maharashtra BJP Chief Ashish Shelar said, "Whatever Manoj Jarange Patil says, he is making false allegations, he is misleading the people."

In March, in sign of taking a tougher stand against the Maratha agitation, the Maharashtra government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the allegations of conspiracy and violence during the stir in Maharashtra. The SIT was formed on the instructions of the Maharashtra assembly speaker after the matter of threats issued to Deputy Chief Minister Fadanvis was raised in the Assembly by BJP MLAs. (ANI)

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