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Ajit Pawar skips Baramati visit, netas face heat as Maratha quota stir intensifies
Maratha reservation activists across the state have threatened to ban the entry of political leaders till the state government fulfils their demand.
As the stir over the Maratha reservation continues in the state, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar cancelled his Saturday visit to Baramati in Pune district.
Pawar, according to his close aids, was to visit Baramati to be present during the beginning of the new sugarcane crushing season of the Malegaon cooperative sugar factory. The sugar factory has been under the control of Pawar for more than two decades.
Since morning the activists were seen agitating at Baramati in large numbers.
To avoid any controversy, Pawar decided to cancel the tour and instead preferred to remain at his Pune residence. Additional police were deployed at the sugar factory as well as Pawar’s residence.
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Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar while speaking with media persons in Mumbai welcomed Ajit’s decision to cancel the Baramati tour.
Sharad Pawar said, “It is a good that Ajit avoided the programme at Baramati as the situation there is tense.”
Maratha reservation activists across the state have threatened to ban the entry of political leaders till the state government fulfils their demand of bringing in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota for the community.
This extends to leaders of other political parties, who have been barred from attending any event in Baramati.
Meanwhile, other MLAs from the Pune district have also cancelled their respective programmes on the background of agitations by Maratha activists at different locations.
On the fourth day of his fast-unto-death on Saturday, a weak-looking Manoj Jarange-Patil appealed to Maratha activists across the state to start a relay hunger strike from Sunday, saying that the state government had gone back on its promises. “If anything happens to any activist on hunger strike, the government will be responsible for it,” declared Jarange-Patil, who resumed his hunger strike at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna earlier this week.
Following his statement, Maratha organisations warned deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar not to come to Pandharpur for the annual Kartiki Ekadashi event at the famous Lord Vithal temple. The deputy CMs perform a pooja on behalf of the state government on Kartiki Ekadashi at the temple, but after the warning by the Sakal Maratha Kranti Morcha, a question mark hovers over the pooja this year.
In Tuljapur town of Osmanabad district, public health minister Tanaji Sawant had to take up another helipad to fly for a scheduled programme anticipating protest.
Sawant said, “The government is working on the Maratha reservation issue under the leadership of Eknath Shinde and two deputy chief ministers. While I am not aware of exact details, I hope in the next couple of days, the issue will be resolved.”
At Narhe, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Eknath Khadse also faced the aggression of quota demonstrators.
The activists also showed black flags to opposition leader Ambadas Danve at Pimpri-Chinchwad on Friday.
In Sangli, district guardian minister Suresh Khade was shown black flags by the Maratha community members. Khade was passing through Miraj when quota activists tried to stop his vehicle and urged him not to attend the programme.
On Friday, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) legislator Rohit Pawar suspended his ongoing Yuva Sangharsh Yatra citing his support of the demand for the Maratha reservation.
Meanwhile, Maratha community members from Pune district carried out a candle march on Saturday evening from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue located at Shivajinagar to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj statue at Deccan.
Against the backdrop of this widespread unrest, a meeting of the cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation will be held on Monday. “The sub-committee will review the work done till now by the Justice (Rtd) Sandeep Shinde committee in connection with the process of giving Maratha-Kunbi and Kunbi-Maratha caste certificates to the Maratha community in Marathwada,” said higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil, who is also the chairperson of the cabinet sub-committee.
