Jalna-based activist Manoj Jarange-Patil - whose hunger strike entered the third day on Friday - has come up with the demand for a special session of the Maharashtra legislature to ensure reservation for the Marathas else threatened to intensify the agitation from November 1.
“Call a special session today, discuss tomorrow, come up with a decision. You must give reservation to the Marathas, which we have been demanding. If not, our team would meet again on October 31 and chart the future course of the agitation,” Jarange-Patil said.
Meanwhile, protests and marches were held across the state to lend support to Jarange-Patil who is undertaking a hunger strike for the second time.
The statement comes a day after the Shirdi visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Before that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had gone to New Delhi and had reportedly met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the issue.
As the Supreme Court has struck down the Maratha reservation legislation of Maharashtra, Jarange-Patil has been demanding that Marathas be given Kunbi caste certificates to get the benefits of reservation in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Kunbi, a sub-caste of Marathas, are classified as OBCs.
However, the OBCs are up in arms against any such possible move.
Published 27 October 2023, 10:16 IST