Maratha quota: Manoj Jarange Patil breaks fast in presence of CM Eknath Shinde

Earlier, Jarange Patil had announced that he had given one-month time to the Maharashtra government to decide on the Maratha reservation issue and that he was willing to withdraw his hunger strike if Shinde and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar came to the protesting site in Jalna and offered him juice.

Preparing the ground for Shinde’s visit, BJP leaders Girish Mahajan and Danve held deliberations with Jarange Patil through the night on Wednesday.

“I have maintained since day one that my belief is that only Eknath Shinde can give justice to the Maratha community. He told me that he will leave no stone unturned on giving reservation to Marathas. I believe that only Shinde has the ability to take that courageous decision,” Jarange Patil said, breaking his fast with a glass of fruit juice offered by Shinde.

He also demanded reservation for all Marathas.

Thanking Jarange Patil for giving the state government a month to resolve the issue, Shinde asked him to take care of his health and assured him and the Maratha community that he was committed to providing reservation to Marathas in the state.

“We are committed to giving reservation to Marathas. We will not rest till Marathas get reservation. We have formed the Shinde committee to give Kunbi certificates. I request you to provide whatever information or documents you have to our experts. Coordination should be there with Shinde’s committee. The earlier reservation given by the state government has been stayed by the court, we are working to get it back. A dedicated commission is being appointed for this purpose. Our stand is that the Maratha community should get reservation which will stand in the court too. Our stand is also that we should get the right of the Maratha community without compromising the right of reservation of other communities. We will not give reservation to the Maratha community by reducing the reservation of others. That is not our stand at all. The government is determined to give reservation to the Maratha community without doing injustice to anyone else. We will not rest until we get this reservation,” he said.

Among those present at the protest site were Shiv Sena leaders Arjun Khotkar, Sandipan Bhumre, BJP leaders Mahajan, Danve and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil.

Jarange Patil has demanded that a Government Resolution be issued providing reservation in jobs and education to Marathas on an immediate basis. On Tuesday, he announced his decision to withdraw his hunger strike, saying he would give the government one month to take a call on the issue even as he laid down a few other conditions.

These included withdrawing cases registered against the Maratha protesters, a guarantee that Kunbi caste certificates will be provided to Marathas after 30 days, the suspension of the police officials who issued lathicharge orders against protesters in Jalna on September 1 and a written assurance on the quota issue, among others.