Jarange tells CM to show commitment to Marathas, govt says willing for talks

However, the chief minister said, people will judge if the agitation is being carried out for political gains.

Jarange Patil was allowed to hold a protest for Maratha quota at Azad Maidan from 9 am to 6 pm on Friday, restricting the number of participants to 5,000.

Earlier the Bombay High Court had said that the quota activist cannot hold a protest at Azad Maidan without obtaining permission from the authorities concerned.

Following this, he gave an undertaking that the demonstration will be peaceful and there will not be any law and order issues.

Jarange Patil, however, expressed disappointment over imposing conditions on holding the protest.
“By giving permission to hold the agitation only for a day, the state government was ridiculing Marathas. It is humiliating,” he said.

Jarange Patil said if the state government agrees to their demands, they will withdraw agitation.
“But you have to be sincere… or else, the Marathas will show their power to both the state and centre governments,” he said.

“I am going for an indefinite demonstration. I will sit on a hunger strike until all our demands including reservation within the OBC quota are accepted by the Fadnavis government… This is also a time for Fadnavis to show his commitment to Marathas through his action,” he added.

Among Jarange Patil’s demands is quota for Marathas under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
In an appeal to Fadnavis, he added, “You have a chance to win the hearts of the Marathas. Please change your stand. There is a big opportunity. We are ready for talks. We are coming.”

Meanwhile, speaking to mediaperons on Thursday, Fadnavis said, “If the demonstration is held within the guidelines prescribed by Bombay High Court, we have no problem. In a democracy, everybody has the right to hold demonstrations. The only condition is that it should be in a democratic manner.”
However, he added, “If the agitation is for politics, people will judge.”

Reiterating that the state government is committed to Maratha reservation, Fadnavis said, “It was during my tenure as the chief minister ( from 2014 to 2019), the Maratha reservation was first adopted but it was challenged in the court. When I was the deputy CM (2022-24), we gave 10 per cent quota to Marathas.”

The chief minister clarified that the state government will protect all communities.

“While giving justice to the Maratha community, we will ensure no injustice is done to OBCs. We are committed to the welfare of both Marathas and OBCs,” he said.

The state government has said that it is ready to resolve the matter through discussion.

“We are willing to hold discussions with Jarange-Patil. Our government is ready to resolve the issue through dialogue,” said Minister Radhakrishnan Vikhe-Patil, who is also the chairman of the cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation.

However, Jarange-Patil said, ” Yes, we received an offer for discussions. But there seems to be some conflict within Mahayuti. They are not speaking the same language.”

Meanwhile, a Maratha reservation activist from Beed, who was part of the agitation march of Jarange Patil, died of heart attack in Pune district on Thursday.

The deceased was identified as Satish Deshmukh, a resident of Vadgaon in Kaij tehsil of Beed district. He died when the entourage had halted in Junnar in Pune district.
Deshmukh’s body is being taken back to his hometown.

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