Mumbai: Manoj Jarange's stir at Mumbai's Azad Maidan for Maratha quota entered the third day on Sunday with the activist hardening his stand by maintaining his demand was constitutionally valid, even as some Maharashtra ministers from the BJP said the community must avail the existing EWS quota.
He has been demanding 10 per cent quota for Marathas and wants them to be recognised as Kunbis -- an agrarian caste included in the Other Backward Classes category -- which will make them eligible for reservation in government jobs and education.
Asserting that he will not leave Mumbai till his demands are met, Jarange said, "The government has records of 58 lakh Marathas as Kunbis." Jarange, who refused to soften his stand after a delegation under retired HC judge Sandeep Shinde met him a day earlier, on Sunday said, "From tomorrow, I will stop taking water as the government is not accepting the demands. But I am not going back till the quota demand is met. We will get Marathas reservation under the OBC category no matter what." Meanwhile, Maharashtra ministers Chandrakant Patil and Nitesh Rane, both from the BJP, have said the Maratha community should benefit from the existing EWS quota rather than being categorised as OBCs. Both Patil and Rane belong to the Maratha community.
Rane also accused NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar of funding Jarange's protest Speaking to reporters in Solapur district on Sunday, Chandrakant Patil said Marathas never faced untouchability and were not backward by caste, but shrinking landholdings over the years pushed them into financial distress.
Patil also said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is never rigid but there are some constitutional limitations.
"Normally, delegations come to meet the CM, not the other way round. However, he (Fadnavis) is so flexible that he can even go. But it must bring a solution, not just lead to humiliation," Patil said.
Rane claimed Jarange's demand to classify all Marathas as Kunbis and include them in the OBC category would not be acceptable across Maharashtra.
"If Jarange restricts his demand to Marathwada, the government may examine it. But in Konkan, where I come from, Marathas and Kunbis have distinct identities and are content with their present status. Marathas cannot get quota benefits through the OBC category," Rane said.
The BJP leader also alleged Opposition NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar had funded Jarange's protest and said he could provide proof if the latter denied it.
Meanwhile, efforts to reach a solution continued at the state government level with Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil meeting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis late Saturday night, sources said.
Vikhe Patil heads a cabinet sub-committee on issues related to the Maratha community's demand for reservation and its social, educational and economic condition. The sub committee is expected to meet again during the day.
Fadnavis has said the government was trying to find a solution to the issue within the constitutional and legal framework.
Asked about Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's statement that all questions on the Maratha stir must be addressed to Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, Jarange said the "Thackeray brand" and both brothers (Raj and Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray) are good.
But he (Raj) is a person who can easily believe what others say, the activist claimed.
In January last year, Jarange's march to Mumbai had stopped in Navi Mumbai following a request by the then government headed by Shinde who assured that quota demands would be met.
On Saturday, a delegation under retired HC judge Sandeep Shinde failed to get Jarange to call off the stir, with the latter steadfast on the demand that all Marathas of Marathwada be recognised as Kunbis for the purpose of quota.
Amid the area around the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus resembling a camp due to the presence of thousands of quota supporters, many of them sleeping and cooking on the footpaths and platforms alleging lack of amenities from the BMC, Jarange appealed that they not be considered as a "crowd".
"They have come here with a lot of pain," he said, while urging his supporters to park vehicles in designated spots and come to the protest site by train.
He also said meals should should be distributed through food trucks to the protesters at Vashi, Chembur, Sewri, Masjid Bunder and other places, wherever they are parking their vehicles.
"As the Agitation at Azad Maidan still continues, agitators are present at CSMT Junction Impacting traffic in the area and near by junctions. Motorist are advised to avoid these route and take alternate route to reach their destination," the Mumbai Traffic Police said on X.
Since Friday, the area around CSMT and the BMC headquarters, both just a few hundred meters away from Azad Maidan, has witnessed unprecedented scenes, including youth cooking on the streets and bathing in the open using water from tankers arranged by the organisers or the BMC. A group of seven to eight young men was on Saturday seen bathing in a fountain near the BMC building.
The protesters have arrived here from across Maharashtra, mostly from Marathwada, in some 8,000 vehicles, as per police.
Nearly 800 sanitation workers have been deployed to maintain cleanliness and arrangements also made for more than 300 toilets for the Maratha quota protesters, the BMC said on Sunday.
It also said arrangements have been made for drinking water and garbage collection.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
