Jarange-Patil to begin indefinite hunger strike on Saturday

The decisions were taken during the activist’s meeting with community members in western Maharashtra following the expiry of the deadline within which the state government had promised to issue the sage-soyare notification

Mumbai: Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil will embark on an indefinite hunger strike on July 20 if the state government fails to issue a notification granting reservation for the “sage-soyare” (relatives by birth or marriage) of Kunbis within the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota by then. He will also undertake a peace march through western Maharashtra between August 7 and 13, he announced on Thursday.

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The decisions were taken during the activist’s meeting with community members in western Maharashtra following the expiry of the deadline within which the state government had promised to issue the sage-soyare notification on July 13.

The indefinite hunger strike will be undertaken in his village, Antarwali Sarati in Jalna, while the peace rally will begin from Solapur on August 7 and end on August 13, Jarange-Patil said during a press conference on Thursday.

“I am appealing to Maratha community members to participate in the rally in big numbers by keeping aside other programmes like weddings and sundry jobs. The indefinite hunger strike will continue until then,” the activist told reporters at Antarwali Sarati.

Jarange-Patil also hit out at BJP vice-president Prasad Lad, who had claimed that the activist was suffering from ‘hate symptom’ towards deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. He said Lad was targeting him to woo Fadnavis and wondered how the Maratha leader could turn against his own community.

He also warned Fadnavis to stop pitting Maratha leaders (like Lad) against Marathas and reiterated that he would consider fielding Maratha candidates against the ruling coalition in the upcoming assembly polls.