Jarange-Patil buckles under state’s aggressive stand, withdraws agitation

Jarange-Patil confined to Ambad tehsil in Jalna by police, BJP leaders accuse Sharad Pawar of inciting him as government takes aggressive action.

A day after his wild allegations against deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, the state government has decided to take an aggressive stand against Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil. The three-party alliance, which was mollycoddling the activist so far, changed its strategy, clamped down on his proposed march to Mumbai and initiated action against his close aides. It has also decided not to have any further dialogue with him and keep him within the confines of Ambad tehsil in Jalna.

Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil during his hunger strike demanding the implementation of the 'Sage Soyare' ordinance, on Wednesday. (ANI)

Faced with police action, Jarange-Patil buckled under pressure. Scrapping his decision to march to Fadnavis’ residence in Mumbai, he also announced the end of his 17-day-long hunger strike. Meanwhile, BJP leaders have been alleging that NCP founder Sharad Pawar was behind the activist’s outburst against Fadnavis.

Jarange-Patil, a farmer-turned-quota activist, shot to prominence after the police lathi charge on a crowd of his supporters at his hunger strike venue in Jalna district on September 1. Opposition leaders visited him and endorsed his stand, after which he received tremendous support in the community. He has been demanding that Marathas be given the benefit of reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota by issuing all of them Kunbi certificates. Kunbi is a peasant sub-caste that falls under the OBC category.

Jarange-Patil’s January long march to Mumbai, accompanied by thousands of Marathas, rattled the government enough for CM Eknath Shinde to accept his demand that the benefits of the OBC quota be extended to even relatives of those who were issued Kunbi certificates. While the activist has been insisting on the immediate implementation of this decision, the government said it would have to consider the 700,000 suggestions and objections that it had received before issuing a final notification. Jarange-Patil then vented his ire on Fadnavis on Sunday, squarely blaming him for the government’s stand. Speaking about Fadnavis in abusive language, he even alleged that the latter had conspired to kill him.

The offensive remarks and wild allegations proved to be the tipping point that the state government, weary of the activist’s unending litany of demands, was waiting for. CM Shinde, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar had an emergency meeting on Sunday evening and decided that this was the right time to act against Jarange-Patil, given that the community support to him too was dwindling owing to the developments of the last few weeks. As a result, the activist, who had announced a plan to march to Fadnavis’ residence in Mumbai, had to abandon it, as the police did not allow his vehicles to cross the Jalna district limit on Sunday night.

Back in his village in Anatarvali Sarati, the activist announced on Monday that he was calling off his 17-day hunger strike, and agreed to take medical treatment. “There was a conspiracy to harm Marathas on Sunday night,” he said. “I am stopping my hunger strike. From Tuesday, four youths will sit on a relay fast. Marathas will do the same across the state. Chief minister Shinde and deputy chief minister Fadnavis must improve and not test our patience.” Jarange-Patil said he would announce his next plan two days later.

On Monday, BJP leaders, in a meeting held at Vidhan Bhavan, rallied behind Fadnavis and slammed Jarange-Patil. “The statement that Fadnavis had hatched a conspiracy to kill him has been taken seriously by the government which said the time had come to stand together and speak the same language,” said a BJP leader. “The CM was convinced that it was the right time to tame the activist who has become a headache for the government.”

Shinde faction leader and excise minister Shambhuraj Desai said that the government was tired of Jarange-Patil’s ever-expanding demands. “The height was the abusive language he used against Fadnavis,” he said. “Because of this, the support to him from within the community has receded, which was evident during the weak response to his call for a rasta roko on Saturday.”

BJP leaders also blamed Pawar for the activist’s outburst against Fadnavis. “One must see who is behind Jarange-Patil and whether it is a political leader who got the tutari as an election symbol,” remarked union minister of state for railways Raosaheb Danve, who comes from the same Jalna district. BJP legislator Prasad Lad also alleged that Jarange-Patil was acting on the orders of Pawar.

The opposition Congress, meanwhile, pointed fingers at CM Shinde. State Congress chief Nana Patole said the government had cheated Marathas on the reservation issue. “They have committed the sin of spreading fire within Maharashtra in the name of reservation,” he said. “The government had said that it would not touch the OBC quota but by giving Kunbi certificates, it did precisely that. The government has to explain this—and if it has the courage, it should also make public the discussions between the CM and Jarange Patil.”

Soon after his utterances against Fadnavis, the police sent four companies of the State Reserve Police Force from Hingoli, Jalna and Dhule to the activist’s village. Sources said that Mumbai police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar called up Jalna SP Ankit Goyal and Sambhajinagar IGP Virendra Mishra and asked them to stop Jarange-Patil from leaving Jalna. The internet was switched off to stop messages, and a handful of Jarange-Patil’s associates were restrained from travelling ahead of him to Mumbai. The internet blackout also affected mediapersons covering Jarange-Patil’s press conferences, and this reduced his impact.

Sources said that Phansalkar had also advised CM Shinde to stop Jarange-Patil since the budget session was about to start. Police sources said that two offences were registered against the activist for violating prohibitory orders at Shiroor Kasar and Amalner police stations. When Maratha agitators burned an MSRTC bus, more police reinforcements were sent to Beed and boundaries were sealed. Bus services were affected in Beed, Jalna and Sambhajinagar.

Patole takes dig at CM in viral video

As the government finally took a hard stand against Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, a remark by chief minister Eknath Shinde in a viral video clip has become a talking point.

In the video circulating on social media, Shinde is heard telling state Congress chief Nana Patole on the premises of the state legislature: “If anyone crosses the limit, I ensure a correct programme (teach the person a lesson).” Patole’s riposte is: “It was you who made him big.”