Jarange-Patil to unveil proposed ‘Mumbai agitation’ plans tomorrow

Jalna (Maharashtra), Dec 27

The Shivba Sanghatana leader Manoj Jarange-Patil said here on Wednesday that he would announce details of his proposed Maratha agitation plans to lay a ‘siege’ of Mumbai on December 28.

He called upon all Marathas in the state to “get out of your homes… head for Mumbai… for the sake of the future of your children,” sparking concerns in political circles, with the Lok Sabha 2024 elections looming ahead.

Speaking to the media, he said that the deadline for giving the Maratha reservation had ended on December 24 but the state government has remained non-committal on the issue so far.

“We are aware that the government will not give us the quotas… The government is doing their job, we are doing our,” claimed Jarange-Patil flatly.

He reiterated that the Marathas and Kunbi (OBC) castes are “same” and lakhs of historical evidence and certificates to this effect have also been found in different districts.

“We have been consistently saying that the Marathas and Kunbis are the same… So we should be given quotas from the Kunbi (OBC) Caste. Will any reservation stick if it crosses the 50 per cent ceiling,” countered Jarange-Patil.

“There is no going back now… This is to safeguard the future of our next generations… All (Marathas), come out of your homes and head for Mumbai…,” he declared.

His aides said that as per earlier announcements, Jarange-Patil is planning to lay ‘seige’ to Mumbai with efforts to bring one crore Marathas, marching from all over the state and squatting on the outskirts of the country’s commercial capital in early January 2024.

It may be recalled that earlier this month, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had assured that after all formalities are completed, the state government would convene a Special Session of Legislature to announce the Maratha reservations in February 2024.

The CM sent a delegation to meet Jarange-Patil seeking more time to implement the quota assurance, but the latter spurned the overtures saying “no more deadline extensions”.