Will gather information from Assembly segments next month before taking a call over polls, says Jarange

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Quota activist Manoj Jarange said on Friday that they will gather information about the Maratha community’s position in each Assembly constituency of Maharashtra next month before deciding their strategy for the state polls.

The Assembly constituency-wise information will be collected from August 14 to August 20 and their plan concerning the polls, due in October, will be declared on August 29, he said.

The activist was talking to reporters here from the hospital where he has been admitted after his latest hunger strike for reservation for Marathas in government jobs and education.

Jarange said, “We cannot tell you about our further plans. We will gather information from every Assembly constituency about our position from August 14 to August 20.” The state has 288 Assembly constituencies.

The quota activist said he would study the information for the next seven days. Maratha community members from across the state will meet on August 29, and take a decision concerning the elections, he said.

He and his followers will support any political party or leader who champions the cause of reservation for the Marathas, Jarange had said on Thursday.

He slammed the BJP leaders who have made statements against him. Many BJP leaders have asked why Jarange never spoke against NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar or Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray.

“The BJP leaders criticising me are doing cheap things. They know I am firm on getting the Maratha quota and won’t back down. Since they can't decide what to do, they are talking like this,” Jarange said.

The quota activist said political leaders are using the Maratha community to further their interests but the members are angry with them, he said.

Referring to some video clip, Jarange claimed that Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that the Maratha community should be given reservation under the OBC (Other Backward Class) category.

Jarange has been demanding the implementation of the draft notification that recognises Kunbis as ‘sage soyare’ (blood relatives) of Maratha community members and reservation to the latter under the OBC category. Kunbis enjoy quota benefits as OBCs. However, OBC members have stressed that their quota should not be diluted.

“Opposition party leaders Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar and Nana Patole (Congress) should disclose their stand on (Maratha) reservation. If they don’t disclose their stand, the government should go ahead and give quota to Marathas under the OBC category,” Jarange said.