On day-one of his hunger strike, Jarange said if the quota demand of the Maratha community is not fulfilled, he and his supporters will show govt “its place” in the upcoming state assembly elections.
The activist said he will field candidates from across the communities in all the 288 assembly constituencies and this time, he will publicly take names of the MLAs against whom people should cast their votes. Jarange said he does not want to get into politics, but if govt continues to fool the community, he will be compelled to teach it a lesson in a political manner.
Jarange again came down heavily on govt and targeted deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. He asked Fadnavis to take steps to address the demands of the Maratha community.
This is the fourth hunger strike by the activist, who has rejected the 10% reservation granted by chief minister Eknath Shinde-led state govt.
Jarange said all the MLAs from the ruling parties, especially the ones from BJP, should be convincing their respective leaderships to ensure the promises are fulfilled. Otherwise, they should be ready to face the consequences in the elections.
Jarange’s demands include Marathas reservation under the OBC category, a law declaring Marathas and Kunbi as one, passage of a sage soyare (blood relatives) law, implementation of the Hyderabad and Bombay gazettes, and withdrawal of cases registered against Marathas in Antarwali Sarati as well as across Maharashtra.
Not taking any chances, heavy police bandobast has been deployed in Antarwali Sarati, which has become the epicentre of the Maratha reservation movement.
The Gondi police, citing representations received from the three villages of Antarwali Sarati, Vadigodri and Dodadgaon, had turned down the permission for Jarange’s hunger strike.
