Thousands of Maratha protesters left Nashik district for Mumbai on Friday morning to support Manoj Jarange-Patil's ongoing agitation for Maratha reservation. After having darshan of Kalika Mata, the village deity of the city, these protesters left towards Mumbai in hundreds of vehicles.
Many protesters also preferred to go to Mumbai by train. Along with urban areas, a large number of brothers from rural areas like Malegaon, Chandwad, Nandgaon, Manmad, and Dindori were also included in this.
Manoj Jarange-Patil took out a long march from Antarwali Sarati to Mumbai to demand reservation for the Maratha community from the OBC category and reached Azad Maidan on Friday morning. To support their stand, Maratha brothers from Nashik district marched towards Mumbai with saffron flags on their vehicles and slogans in support of Jarange-Patil along with Maratha reservation. Chhawa Sanghatana leader Karan Gaiker led the march.
Stickers were put on thousands of vehicles
Meanwhile, as part of this movement, stickers supporting the movement were put on thousands of vehicles by the entire Maratha community. These stickers were put up in the Kalika Mandir area in the presence of Karan Gaiker, Keshav Patil, and Nanasaheb Bachhav.
At this time, the determination to not retreat until a reservation was obtained and to firmly support the stand taken by Manoj Jarange-Patil was unanimously expressed.
Silence of Maratha leaders, representatives
While the atmosphere of the Maratha reservation movement was heated across the state, it was clear in Nashik that big leaders from both the ruling and opposition parties, as well as public representatives, remained aloof from this movement.
Far from participating in person, some protesters expressed their displeasure as no one made it clear that they were supporting the movement by issuing leaflets or posting messages on social media. There are two MPs and half a dozen MLAs from the Maratha community in the district.
However, it was clear that all of them remained aloof from the movement process. Deolali MLA Saroj Ahire said that they supported the movement only by showing their presence at the Kalika temple.
