Activist Manoj Jarange Patil said the Maratha community will start a fresh round of agitation from February 21 if the state government failed to convert the gazette notification on Maratha reservation into a law even as Chief Minister Eknath Shinde appealed to him to withdraw his hunger strike. Speaking to a delegation of Maratha coordinators in Kolhapur, CM Shinde said, "Our government is determined to provide reservation to the Maratha community. Therefore, I appeal to activist Manoj Jarange-Patil to withdraw his fast.'' Meanwhile, in Antarwali-Saraati village in Jalna district where Jarange-Patil's hunger strike entered its seventh day, the activist said, "I will stop till the ''sage-soyare (relatives from a family tree) notification is converted into a law. If the government fails to take a decision by February 21, the agitation will take a different turn and the government will find it difficult to control it.'' Speaking to reporters, Jarange-Patil, who has been put on saline and spends most of the time lying on the stage, said, ''Those whose Kunbi records have been found will be given the Kunbi caste certificates. And those whose Kunbi records have not been found, for them the law relating to ''sage-soyare'' should be implemented." "The state should accept the Backward Class Commission report and issue Kunbi caste certificates to those whose records have not been found. Those who want the reservation as per the Backward Class Commisison report, should take it. I am confident the CM and the DCMs will provide reservation to the Maratha community," he said.
