Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 14 (ANI): Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil warned on Sunday that he would once again go on a hunger strike on June 4 if the Maratha reservation issue is not resolved by the state government.
“If the Maratha reservation issue is not resolved in the coming months, I will once again go on a hunger strike on June 4th,” he said.
He slammed the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, saying he duped his community and accused the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of doing nothing for the reservation while they were in power.
“We have been misled by the state government. Mahayuti has not given us Maratha reservation…When Maha Vikas Aghadi was in power, they did nothing for the Maratha reservation,” he said.
Last month, in sign of taking a tougher stand against the Maratha agitation, the Maharashtra government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the allegations of conspiracy and violence during the stir in Maharashtra.
The SIT was formed on the instructions of the Maharashtra assembly speaker after the matter of threats issued to Deputy Chief Minister Fadanvis was raised in the Assembly by BJP MLAs.
In February, the Maharashtra government, during a special assembly session, approved a Bill to extend 10 per cent reservation to the Marathas, based on a report submitted by the Maharashtra Backward Class Commission (MBCC).
However, Jarange Patil opposed the reservation and insisted on a quota for the Marathas under the OBC category.
Jarange Patil’s Maratha reservation campaign is accused of receiving financial support from ‘political associates,’ and it is alleged that he made inflammatory remarks during the course of the campaign.
The Maharashtra State Government had indicated that if Jarange Patil’s agitation for the Maratha Reservation is politically motivated, funded, and intended to cause unrest, a comprehensive SIT inquiry would be conducted to assess its implications on law and order in the state. (ANI)
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