Activist Jarange hints at govt backing for agitation by OBC members to safeguard quota

“They orchestrate and support agitations. There is a possibility that the government is powering these agitations so that our demands (on Maratha quota under OBC category) remain unfulfilled,” Jarange maintained.

The activist was speaking to reporters at a private hospital in central Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city where he is undergoing treatment after suspending his indefinite fast on the quota issue on June 13.

OBC community members Laxman Hake and Navnath Waghmare are sitting on an indefinite hunger strike at Wadigodri village in Jalna district since June 13 to safeguard OBC reservation.

“We won’t say anything about their (OBC) agitation. They have a right to do their agitation. I have nothing to do with those who go and meet them. There is a possibility the government is backing such agitations so that they keep dragging their feet on our demands. How this (OBC protest) has happened all of a sudden?” Jarange asked.

The activist, who has undertaken multiple fasts in the last one year, said the state government is not concerned about the Maratha community.

“The government does not care for us. We have agitated for up to 17 days. The government does not seem to understand that if it keeps the (Maratha quota) issue unresolved, it will only create problems for them,” he emphasised.

Jarange said Maratha community members will be left with no choice other than contesting assembly elections in association with other social groups if their demands are not fulfilled.

“Politics is not our way. But if our demands are not fulfilled, we will be left with no other option except contesting elections. We will contest elections on 288 assembly seats. Meetings are going on for the same. We have examined some constituencies in Western Maharashtra, Marathwada, North Maharashtra, Mumbai, Vidarbha. We will do this (fight polls) with the help of all communities,” he maintained.

Assembly polls in Maharashtra are due in October.

Jarange said he will tour different districts in the Marathwada region in central Maharashtra in July and hold events to unite the Maratha community and mobilize support for his demands.

The 41-year-old activist has been demanding implementation of the draft notification that recognises Kunbis as “sage soyare” (blood relatives) of Maratha community members and also seeking a law to identify Kunbis as Marathas.

Kunbi, an agrarian group, falls under the OBC category, and Jarange has been demanding that Kunbi certificates be issued to all Marathas, thus making them eligible for quota in government jobs and education.

In February this year, the state assembly unanimously passed a bill granting a separate 10 per cent reservation in education and jobs to the Maratha community. However, the community has been demanding a quota under the OBC grouping.