Bandh hits life in 4 Maharashtra districts as state placates OBC, Maratha protestors

In Mumbai, chief minister Eknath Shinde holds meeting with a seven-member delegation from the Maratha community

Mumbai: With assembly polls likely to be held in less than two months’ time, the issue of reservation for Marathas is gathering steam once again. On Sunday, as Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil’s indefinite hunger strike entered the sixth day, a bandh was observed in Pune, Parbhani, Dharashiv and Jalna, disrupting normal life in all four districts. In Mumbai, chief minister Eknath Shinde held a meeting with a seven-member delegation from the Maratha community to discuss several pending demands.

CM Eknath Shinde and other leaders met a delegation of Marathas from Pune at Azad Maidan, where a sit-in protest was started on Saturday out of concern for Jarange-Patil’s deteriorating health. (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

“I urge Jarange-Patil to call off his hunger strike,” Shinde said while speaking to reporters after the meeting. Minister of state for home Shambhuraj Desai said the chief minister had directed (technical education minister) Chandrakant Patil and him to hold a meeting on the demands on Monday and follow up on the matter on a daily basis.

Shinde, Desai and other leaders met the delegation of Marathas from Pune at Azad Maidan, where a sit-in protest was started on Saturday out of concern for Jarange-Patil’s deteriorating health. Discussions were held regarding withdrawal of cases against members of the community, the notification granting reservation benefits to the ‘sage-soyare’ (related by birth or marriage) of Kunbis and provision of reservation to Marathas under the OBC quota courtesy records in the Hyderabad, Bombay and Satara gazetteers, he said.

Jarange-Patil commenced the sixth and latest leg of his indefinite hunger strike in his village Antarwali Sarathi in Jalna district last Tuesday. His demands include reservation for Marathas within the OBC (Other Backward Classes) quota courtesy the gazetteers of Hyderabad, Bombay and Satara, wherein Marathas are reportedly recognised as Kunbis.

His village is barely four kilometres away from Wadigodri, where OBC activist Laxman Hake commenced an indefinite strike on Thursday opposing reservation for Marathas within the OBC quota.

Sunday was the sixth day of Jarange-Patil’s strike and the fourth day of Hake’s strike. It was also the second consecutive day when protestors from both camps came face to face and raised slogans against each other. The confrontation took place despite heavy police deployment and closure of all roads between Wadigodri to Antarwali Sarathi.

Protests were held by Marathas on Sunday in other parts of the state too, including in Sambhaji Nagar, Nanded and Nashik. In Solapur’s Mohol, they protested in front of the convoy of Ajit Pawar, who is on a statewide tour ahead of the polls.

Maratha organisations have issued calls for bandhs on Monday and Tuesday too, in Ahmednagar and Hingoli district’s Basmat tehsil, respectively.

Meanwhile, Desai sought to placate Hake and OBC groups, saying the quest for providing reservation to Marathas would not affect their reservation.

“On behalf of the state government, I would like to make it clear that the existing reservation of any community will not be impacted. The chief minister has clearly said that the reservation to the Maratha community will be given without impacting the quota of any of the communities,” he said.