Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on Sunday reiterated his warning to the state government that if it fails to implement the “sage-soyare” law by July 13, the ruling alliance will face defeat in all 288 seats in the upcoming Assembly polls.
“If the state government does not meet our demands by July 13 deadline, we will give a befitting reply to it in the ensuing assembly elections,” said Jarange-Patil in Parbhani where he held his second ”peace rally” as part of his Marathwada tour.
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“If the government fails to ensure reservation to Maratha community by July 13, we should then take a decision whether to field our own candidates or defeat the candidates (of the ruling allaince) in all 288 constituencies,” he told the gathering at the rally.
Asking the Maratha community to remain alert, Jarange Patil said, “Don’t take it lightly… Don’t get into unnecessary arguments like ‘he is my leader, he is your leader’. Pay attention to your children. Many parents have seen their children ending their lives for lack of reservation. We keep take care of our children. We have to keep fighting till we get reservation for our children,” he said.
Urging the Maratha community to come out and vote en masse during the Assembly election, the quota activist said, “The world should take note of our unity. We should remain united. Many are taking cue out of our unity… I am confident that the government will take a decision regarding reservation by July 13. If it doesn’t, it will face the consequences during the assembly elections.”
Targeting state minister and BJP leader Chandrakant Patil, Jarange-Patil said, “The minister does not understand the difference between relatives and ‘sage-soyare” (blood relatives). He should not hold brief for the government. Patil is trying to create confusion among the Maratha community members.”
Slamming minister Chhagan Bhujbal, whom he has targeted several times in the past, Jarange-Patil said, “The government has pitted OBC leaders against me after taking advice from Bhujbal. If the government listens to Bhujbal, it will have to face the consequences…Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that he will withdraw police cases against Maratha community members. He has not done so, Probably he is listening to Bhujbal.”
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Calling up Maratha community to desist from getting into a duel with OBC community, Jarange-Patil said, “There is a possibility of an attack on me. But I request you with folded hands to not get into a fight with OBC community. But if anyone tries to harass our children, then don’t look back.”
The activist said Kunbis and Marathas are the same. “Kunbis and Marathas are one and the same. When Sushilkumar Shinde was the chief minister, he has issued an order to the effect,” he said.
Stating that fasting has taken a toll on his health, Jarange-Patil said, “Now I find it difficult to even climb the staircase without support from someone. Consistent fasting has taken a toll on my health. My arms and limbs sometimes go numb. But this will not stop me… I will fight for getting reservation for the community till my last breath,” he said.
The activist wound up his speech quickly citing severe headache.
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More
