Maratha quota protesters attack NCP MLA Prakash Solanke’s home, BJP MLA’s office and govt offices

Maratha community leaders have banned the entry of politicians to villages. Over 400 villages have passed resolutions in this regard while some have written to the authorities about their decisions. Some villages have also passed resolutions to boycott the upcoming elections.

Several politicians including MLAs and MPs were stopped from entering villages by Maratha activists. In the wake of such incidents, several leaders including MP Shrikant Shinde, son of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and minister Dada Bhuse cancelled their tours.

Maratha activists also vandalised BJP MLA Prashant Bamb’s office in Sambhaji Nagar district’s Gangapur area on Monday afternoon.

A mob also set the office of the Majalgaon Nagar Parishad on fire and pelted stones at police vehicles. The protesters have called for a shutdown of the local market.

Considering the attacks on public representatives’ and government offices, the police have beefed up security for politicians and ministers.

Opposition leaders criticised the home department over the attack on the MLA’s residence and demanded the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio. “Maharashtra’s home minister should immediately resign over the intelligence failure in the state as a sitting MLA’s house is being attacked,” said Supriya Sule, the NCP MP from Baramati.

BJP’s Laxman Pawar resigns as MLA

BJP leader Laxman Pawar resigned as the MLA for Gevrai on Monday to support the Maratha reservation demand. He is said to have sent his resignation to Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar.

Earlier, Hemant Patil, belonging to the Shiv Sena led by the chief minister, announced his resignation as an MP in support of the community’s demand on Sunday. Patil, who represented the Hingoli constituency, wrote his resignation letter at the protest site in Umarkhed, Yavatmal, and said that he would hand it over to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday.

The NCP’s Atul Benke, the MLA for Junnar, said he was ready to resign. “If my resignation is going to help the cause of Maratha reservation, then I am ready to resign…,” he said at a protest by the community in Junnar.

So far a couple of corporators and sarpanches have also resigned in support of the demand.

Jarange-Patil blames MLA

Speaking about the attack on Solanke’s home, Maratha leader Manoj Jarange-Patil, who is on the sixth day of his hunger strike, said the MLA must have provoked community members. He reiterated that Marathas were protesting peacefully but wanted the chief minister to “control his people who are making controversial statements” and not to “get in the way of the Marathas” or there would be repercussions.

“First of all, Marathas would never do such a thing. Someone else must have done it. If Marathas have done it, they must have been provoked and instigated by the MLAs. He has a habit of making controversial speeches. But still I am appealing to all the Marathas to protest peacefully and not take the extreme step of dying by suicide. I am telling the police in advance to not harass the Maratha community members who are protesting. If the Marathas are harassed, I myself will visit there and there will be repercussions. I also request CM Shinde to control his people who are making controversial statements,” he said.

Shinde promises Kunbi certificates

Meanwhile, after a meeting of a cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation, Shinde said that Marathas who have records showing them as Kunbis will get Kunbi caste certificates and appealed to Jarange-Patil to break his fast and get medical treatment, adding that the government would reach out to the protesters.

Revenue Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil later contacted Jarange-Patil, apprised him of the decision taken during the meeting, and also urged him to break his fast.

The minister also told him that the state government had received a preliminary report from the Justice Sandeep Shinde committee and that a meeting of collectors had been called to take a decision on giving Kunbi caste certificates to those with records showing them as Kunbis.

Jarange-Patil, however, refused to end his hunger strike until all Marathas got reservation and said the government must give Kunbi caste certificates to all the Marathas without any discrimination.

Jarange-Patil said the minister told him that a decision to give Kunbi certificates to Marathas from Marathwada would be taken during the collectors’ meeting. However, he said that he would not accept “half-hearted” reservation. “I told him that the protest would not be withdrawn and asked him to give Kunbi caste certificates to all the Marathas, not only to those whose Kunbi caste records have been found. All the Marathas should get the reservation. My hunger strike would not be withdrawn,” he said, adding that he did not understand how much more time the chief minister required to announce reservation for the community.

Jarange-Patil also said it was the second phase of his six-phase reservation agitation and that the third phase would start from November 1.

The Maratha reservation issue took centre stage when police resorted to lathicharge and used tear gas on protesters in Jalna’s Antarwali village on September 1. The government came under fire from Opposition leaders, with leaders going to Antarwali village to support the agitation led by Jarange-Patil and criticising the government for using force on the protesters.

The pressure forced the government to initiate talks with Jarange-Patil and issue a government resolution to give Kunbi caste certificates to the Marathas whose ancestors were described as Kunbi in Nizam-era documents of the Hyderabad kingdom. It will allow Marathas from the state’s Marathwada region to avail of quota benefits as Kunbis, who fall under the OBC category.

Jarange-Patil, who went on a hunger strike for the first time on August 29 in Jalna, broke his fast on September 14 after Shinde and other ministers visited him and gave him assurances about announcing reservation in 40 days, which got over on October 24. On October 25, he started a fresh hunger strike.

The state has so far witnessed seven suicides in support of the reservation demand over two weeks.