'Marathas will travel to Mumbai if not granted quota': No breakthrough during Jarange's meet with CM aide

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Maharashtra government's bid to dissuade Manoj Jarange from demonstrating in Mumbai seems to have failed, with the Maratha quota activist declining the request of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' OSD to postpone the stir in view of the Ganesh festival.

On the eve of the festival, Officer on Special Duty Rajendra Sable Patil met Jarange at Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna district on Tuesday. He requested Jarange to defer the proposed agitation and asked him to share the road map the protesters will follow to reach Mumbai.

"I earlier spoke to Manoj Jarange over the phone. I came to meet him today and asked him about the route he is taking to reach Mumbai. I requested him if he could postpone the agitation as there is Ganeshotsav (starting from Wednesday)," Patil told reporters.

Jarange has been leading the campaign demanding that all Marathas be recognised as Kunbis — an agrarian caste included in the OBC category — thereby making them eligible for reservation in education and government jobs.

He held discussions with Patil in the presence of media persons.

"We waited for two years. BJP MLA Suresh Dhas had visited me during my previous hunger strike and sought three months to decide on the (quota) issue. If the government grants (OBC) reservation to Marathas, we will become friends with Devendra Fadnavis," Jarange said.

"We won't travel to Mumbai if we get the reservation, or else we will go. We will travel to Mumbai, and the demonstration will be peaceful", he added.

Stressing that the protesters wouldn’t disturb Ganesh festival celebrations in the state capital, Jarange appealed to the government to allot protesters a dedicated route to reach the Azad Maidan.

Jarange told Patil to convey to the government that Marathas will not settle for anything but the implementation of a 10 per cent quota under the OBC category by the evening.

"If our demand is met, we will smear gulal on the bungalow of CM Fadnavis and also shower flowers. We will carry three lakh tonnes of gulal in trucks," the quota leader added.

Jarange had announced he would march to Mumbai with Maratha supporters from August 27 and sit on an indefinite fast on August 29 if the government fails to grant the 10 per cent reservation to Marathas under the OBC grouping by Tuesday evening.

The proposed stir can potentially create a law and order situation in Mumbai amid the Ganesh festival.

During his open discussion with Patil, the quota leader stressed that the patience of Marathas has run out. "We waited till the government constituted a committee to find records of Kunbis. The records are government documents. They cannot do injustice to us. The government should give us our rights. I am ready to go to jail," he added.