Show your strength, defeat those against quota: Jarange-Patil to Marathas

At Antarwali, Jarange-Patil sits on the dais that was set up for his hunger strike and interacts with visitors seeking his counsel on various subjects

Antarwali Sarati, a nondescript village in Jalna district of Marathwada region, came under the spotlight due to an incident of police lathicharge on a group of Maratha community members who had gathered to support Manoj Jarange-Patil, a local activist. Jarange-Patil was sitting on indefinite fast for reservation for Marathas in government jobs and education. The September 1, 2023 police action evoked a strong reaction from the community. Top politicians rushed to the village and, in no time, Jarange-Patil became the face of the Maratha community demand for reservation.

Show your strength, defeat those against quota: Jarange-Patil to Marathas

Since then, this ground zero of Maratha protests has been constantly in the news. Groups of Marathas community members come from across the state regularly to meet Jarange-Patil. The protests and the overall quota politics is expected to impact polls, especially in the Marathwada or central Maharashtra region. But to what extent is a puzzle for both the ruling alliance as well as the opposition coalition, Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

At Antarwali, Jarange-Patil sits on the dais that was set up for his hunger strike and interacts with visitors seeking his counsel on various subjects. The obvious discussion is about voting in the Lok Sabha elections.

Anand Tarakh, 26-year old Antarvali resident, said, “The entire village is with Jarange-Patil and the voting will be done as per his advice. Not only our village, but the entire Marathwada (central Maharashtra) region is following him. We also want him to take a decision on fielding candidates in the forthcoming assembly polls.”

“We have been getting assurance for reservation for last three years, but nothing has happened. I am one of the protesters who were beaten up by the police on September 1. For us, it is time to teach a lesson to the parties responsible,” said Madhukar Mapari, a farmer who came to meet Jarane-Patil from Walkeshwar village 12 km away.

The Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena had won seven of eight seats from the region in 2019. The opposition Congress and the NCP could not win a single seat from central Maharashtra.

There was tremendous anguish in the community, especially in this region, after the lathicharge incident. The actions taken by the government have changed the mood to some extent.

Staying true

The Maratha reservation protests, which sometimes turned violent, resulted in the state government taking several steps like fleshing out Nizam- and British-era documents related to the Kunbi records available so the Marathas could be included in the OBC quota. To widen the scope of the process of inclusion of Marathas into the OBC list, the state government agreed to extend the benefits to Sage Soyare, or blood relatives. This riled OBCs protesting the inclusion of Marathas. The Marathas are complaining, however, about lack of willpower to implement the notification issued for the issuance of Kunbi certificates.

“The first two protests made Jarange-Patil extremely popular in the community. The third protest in which he embarked on the Mumbai visit with thousands of supporters was one when his popularity started waning owing to the mistakes he made. Many felt he acted like a puppet in the hands of chief minister Eknath Shinde and accepted to withdraw the stir without having the demand of inclusion of Sage-Soyare (blood relatives) implemented. He celebrated his achievement in the presence of Shinde. The fourth protest started from February 10 led to a major dent to his credibility. For no reason he launched it and withdrew after a backlash from the community,” said a Maratha community member who had closely worked with him during the first two protests.

Jarange-Patil has announced that he will hold a massive rally on 900 acres at Narayan Gad in Beed on June 6 and has been campaigning for it from village to village.

Jarange-Patil first appealed to the community to contest the Lok Sabha election but later changed the decision. “We were against fighting any polls, as the movement started for reservation was social in nature. Giving it a political face will go against the cause. It would damage the movement which has got momentum after many years. Maratha community members opposed the move by holding meetings in districts. We are happy that Jarange-Patil changed the decision,” said Sharad Deshmukh, one of the coordinators of Maratha Kranti Morcha.

Who will benefit?

At a corner meeting at Ghansavangi in Jalna district on Monday, Jarange-Patil asked the crowd to show the strength of Marthas and defeat those who worked against them. He asked them to vote en-bloc against the candidate they want to defeat. He criticised deputy chief minister and home minister Devendra Fadnavis for the cases registered against the protesters from the community. He does not speak against Eknath Shinde or his party but attacks Fadnavis and his party and at times speaks against Ajit Pawar.

“I am not telling our community members to vote for or against any candidate or party. Irrespective of the party, they have to vote to show their strength and defeat the leaders who are against Marathas,” Jarange-Patil said.

Union minister and BJP’s Jalna candidate Raosaheb Danve said that the reservation would not be an issue this election. “People are very clever and very well know that reservation and election are two different things. They will vote for development by keeping reservation aside and take up the reservation as an issue again after the election,” he said.

Congress MLA from Jalna Kailash Gorantyal, however, insisted that the Marathas and the OBC are disgruntled. “Marathas are upset with the ruling parties and they are determined to vote for the Congress and other opposition parties. Jarange-Patil has been publicly appealing to his community to vote against those against their reservation and the message is clear. People are determined to vote for the opposition candidate and it will help us in winning four of eight seats in central Maharashtra,” he said.

Sambhaji Nagar-based political analyst H M Desarada said, “I do not think the Maratha reservation issue is going to damage any party in the LS polls, as by inducting Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar in its alliance the BJP has already neutralised the damage. One does not know the understanding Jarange-Patil has with Shinde, but the impact of Maratha reservation protest has subsided. The reservation protests were held in the past (2016-2017) as well, but they hardly impacted the voteshare of any party. The vote division by small players like Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and AIMIM would marginalise the damage, if it is in offing, to the ruling parties.”