Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on Monday announced he will leave for Mumbai with four to five associates on Tuesday, and asked his supporters to stay back for now, a day after police refused permission for his indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan in the country’s financial capital starting September 19.
Jarange-Patil said he will start his journey to Mumbai with two vehicles, two ambulances, and four to five associates on Tuesday morning. On Saturday, he announced a march to Mumbai on Tuesday to press for his demand for the Maratha quota under the Kunbi category. Jarange-Patil had said he would remain in Mumbai until the government accepted his demand before he was denied permission for the protest on Sunday. On Tuesday last, Fadnavis said the government had fulfilled most of Patil’s demands that would benefit the community.
He warned the state government that his supporters could enter Mumbai in large numbers if the police tried to stop his agitation at Azad Maidan. Jarange-Patil alleged a conspiracy to create riots by infiltrating the agitation. “I do not want to surrender to them. If they start shedding your blood, I will have to surrender before them, and I am not prepared to do that. “I do not know whether I will come back or not. Anything can happen to me, and I do not care about myself. I do not want to damage the prestige of the community.
Police cited the Ganeshotsav celebrations beginning September 14 and said the festivities would require extensive deployment and that holding a protest amid large crowds could raise additional public-safety concerns.
Police said the proposed protest could disrupt normal life, particularly in South Mumbai, and affect schools, courts, public transport and healthcare services. Such disruption could potentially lead to a serious law-and-order situation, police said. He said he decided to change the strategy to avoid putting his supporters at risk, but maintained that the community’s demands would remain unchanged. He said he did not want violence or to put the community at risk. I do not want to put all of you in danger,” he said. Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said the government had taken “unprecedented” measures, including facilitating Kunbi certificates for the eligible Marathas to be included in the Other Backward Class category. He said they implemented reservation benefits and funded welfare schemes.
