Maharashtra polls: Manoj Jarange-Patil does a U-turn, MVA relieved

Jarange-Patil withdrew from the elections, opting to support candidates against the ruling alliance, easing MVA's fears of vote splitting.

MUMBAI: Just hours after he announced a list of constituencies where he was to field candidates in the upcoming assembly elections, Maratha quota activist, Manoj Jarange-Patil did a U-turn, backing out of the election fray. On Monday morning, Jarange-Patil said the Maratha community would not field any candidates but he would “apply the Lok Sabha formula” to these polls, implying that he would work towards defeating candidates fielded by the ruling Mahayuti alliance for its consistent anti-quota stand.

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo )

The move has brought immense relief to the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which had feared a split in the Maratha vote. On the other hand, the ruling Mahayuti alliance is worried as the Maratha quota activist had significantly hurt the coalition in the parliamentary elections earlier this year.

Jarange-Patil’s somersault came only hours after he had announced a list of 10 to 15 constituencies, where he said the Maratha community would field candidates, including some from smaller parties. He had also said on Sunday night that he would announce a list of 11 more constituencies, from where there Maratha community would contest.

Addressing the media in Antarwali Sarati in Jalna district on Monday, Jarange-Patil said he had withdrawn from the fray as he had not received a response from smaller allies representing castes like the Dalits and Muslims. He had been banking on them to field candidates as part of his plan. He also said he had realised that no election could be fought in the name of a single caste.

The quota activist said he is leaving it to the Maratha community to take a call on whom to back. “Let the community decide whom to elect and whom to teach a lesson by defeating. It could be called the ‘Lok Sabha pattern’. We have no option. It is better for the community to act in their own interest,” he said. During the Lok Sabha elections, Jarange-Patil had actively, and successfully, campaigned against the Mahayuti alliance, contributing to its losses across Marathwada, as well as in parts of Vidarbha and Western Maharashtra.

Rajendra Kondhare, president Akhil Bharatiya Maratha Mahasangh, believes that Jarange-Patil has lost a huge opportunity. “There was no political maturity, no planning and no ideological base given to the thought of fighting the elections. There was an atmosphere in the favour of the Maratha community and he had built momentum, but he failed to cash in on the situation. The community was dragged behind Jarange and he has squandered its bargaining power.”

OBC quota activist Laxman Hake has also criticized Jarange -Patil for his decision. “I have been saying from the very beginning that he would not field any candidates. He has been acting on the ‘Baramati Script’ (an agenda set by Sharad Pawar) and his withdrawal too is on the orders of ‘Baramati’,” Hake said.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) founder Sharad Pawar admitted that the MVA will gain. “We have nothing to do with the decision by Jarange-Patil, but had he fielded candidates, it would have helped the BJP in the election. He has taken the right decision.”

Deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis did not anything away. “Everybody has the right in a democracy to fight or decide to not fight the polls. I have nothing to say on his decision. I will speak if he takes a political stand and enters the fray.”