Shinde, Fadnavis rush to Delhi as Maratha quota activist resumes hunger strike after deadline ends

New Delhi: Bracing for a fresh round of protests over the Maratha reservation and seemingly able to do little except giving verbal assurances, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis reached Delhi Wednesday to “hold meetings” with the central government, ThePrint has learnt.  

This comes even as Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, who has been spearheading protests for the reservation, announced he was resuming his hunger strike “indefinitely” until his demands are met. 

Significantly, Jarange-Patil, who first began a hunger strike on 29 August to demand Marathas get Kunbi caste certificates placing them in the OBC category, announced Wednesday that he would press on with an indefinite strike. This came a day after the 40-day deadline he had set for the state government to implement the reservation came to an end. 

Announcing the resumption of the protest he had suspended in September, Jarange-Patil said he would not take “any medical assistance, food, water or saline” this time. 

“We will intensify our protest, but it won’t be aggressive. Candlelight marches will be organised. We request politicians from all parties not to come to our villages until reservation is given to the Marathas,” Jarange-Patil said from his protest site at Jalna’s Antarwali Sarathi village.

Significantly, Marathas, who comprise about 33 percent of Maharashtra’s population, have been demanding reservations for jobs and education for nearly four decades.

In 2018, sporadic protests led the Maharashtra government to enact a law granting 16 percent reservation for the caste group under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) category, but it was challenged in the Supreme Court and was eventually struck down.

Protests for reservation have once again been renewed over the last two months and took a violent turn on 1 September, when police lathicharge at Jarange-Patil’s protest led to his hospitalisation.  

These protests also come months before parliamentary election and Maharashtra assembly polls.

On his part, Praful Patel, former civil aviation minister and a leader of the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party which is part of the government, urged Jarange-Patil to have patience and promised a resolution.

“We have a very clear position. The state government is equally clear that the Maratha community should get justice… they should get the benefit of reservation. Whatever the legal and technical difficulties, all the three parties in the government are brainstorming how to remove them,” he told reporters Wednesday.

Also Read: Maratha reservation row: OBCs up in arms, why Shinde bid for damage control has put his govt in a spot

Renewal of protest

Soon after Jarange-Patil announced he was resuming his protest, Maharashtra rural development minister Girish Mahajan tried to convince him to take back his fast. The telephone conversation was played on a speaker in front of the media.

“The government is actively working towards his demands and you should give the government some time to announce a reservation that would stand in court,” he said. “We are requesting you to take back the strike. We want to give you the reservation but for that give us some time.”

Jarange-Patil, however, refused to heed. “You asked for 15 days, we gave you 41. You promised us to take back cases against the Maratha youths but even that has not happened,” he said.

Significantly, the police lathicharge on Jarange-Patil on 1 September catapulted the Maratha activist, until then known largely in the Marathwada region, as the latest face of the reservation protests. 

On 15 September, Jarange-Patil announced he was suspending his protest after a government delegation led by CM Eknath Shinde promised to fulfil his demands.

At a Dussehra rally on 24 October — a day before Jarange-Patil resumed his strike — Shinde said his government was committed to the cause of the Maratha reservation. 

On the legal front, the Maharashtra government approached the Supreme Court with a curative petition on 13 October. Although the petition has been admitted in court, a date has yet to be given for hearing the case.

Meanwhile, a committee the chief minister set up last month to explore granting Kunbi Marathas OBC reservations has asked for two more months to submit its report.

But protests continue across the state for an immediate solution — according to Jarange-Patil, as many as 16 people have “ended their lives”. 

“The government has not done anything in the last 41 days. Our brothers have ended their lives in the last few days. The government is responsible for this but it has not provided any government jobs or financial assistance to their families,” Jarange-Patil said at Antarwali Sarathi village. “But I want to appeal to all my brothers and sisters to not take such an extreme step, let us fight this struggle. This is a peaceful protest.”

Political fallout

The protests have put the Eknath Shinde government in a spot, especially since the case is now sub-judice. One option before it is to hold parleys with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government to have Parliament approve the reservation — a route that the government is now seemingly taking. 

Meanwhile, the Opposition is seeking to corner the Shinde government. On Wednesday, Sambhajiraje Bhosale, former MP and a descendent of 17th-century Maratha king Shivaji, met Jarange-Patil and voiced his concerns over the activist’s health.  

“I understand Manoj’s fighting spirit for the community. I can see his struggle and efforts. But all I want to tell him is ‘take care of your health’. He said he won’t even drink water. I have no words to offer him,” Bhosale said.

Baramati MP Supriya Sule, a leader of the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, called it a “policy paralysis”.  “The CM swore yesterday in the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji. Let’s see if he can really provide any solution now,” she told reporters.

Likewise, Shiv Sena (Udhhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut lashed out at CM.

“He has no other option but to take oath in the name of Shivaji Maharaj in Maharashtra. Else, no one will ask him in the state. Since coming in contact with the BJP, the proportion of false oaths has gone up,” Raut said.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole, who has promised reservation to Marathas if his party is voted to power, accused the BJP of dividing the state on caste lines.

“Since 2014, BJP has not fulfilled any of its promises and just has given assurances to different communities,” Patole said Wednesday. “There’s anger against the BJP among all communities. There is no guarantee that CM Shinde will remain in power or not, so there’s absolutely no value to his words.” 

(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)

Also Read: Hotel worker to serial protester— who is Manoj Jarange-Patil, latest face of Maratha quota agitation