30 October,2023 08:37 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Pic/File
Maratha quota stir: At least 13 Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses have been reportedly damaged in the last 48 hours, including four on Monday, in the Maratha quota stir underway in parts of Maharashtra, leading to the state-run transport corporation taking a decision to shut operations in 30 of its 250 depots, an official said, according to the PTI.
Nine buses were damaged on Sunday, he said, adding the 30 depots where operations have been stopped are in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, the PTI reported.
"All MSRTC depots in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division, except 17 depots in Beed, Dharashiv (formerly Osmanabad) and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar zones in the division, have been shut," he said, as per the PTI.
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MSRTC has a fleet of 15,000 buses and ferries around 60 lakh persons per day on routes across the state.
Protests have been taking place in various parts of the state seeking reservation in jobs and education for the Maratha community.
It includes a fast unto death since October 25 by Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, and localised stirs that are centred on not allowing leaders to enter villages till they make their stand clear on the demand.
Meanwhile, the residence of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Prakash Solanke in Maharashtra's Beed district was reportedly set on fire and stones were hurled at it on Monday amid fresh violence over the demand for Maratha quota, the police said, reported the PTI.
According to the news agency, a group of people also set ablaze a car parked at the residence of MLA Prakash Solanke located in Majalgaon after an audio clip of the MLA in which he purportedly spoke about the Maratha quota agitation and made a veiled comment on the fasting quota activist Manoj Jarange went viral.
It is not clear whether the Majalgaon MLA, who belongs to the NCP faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, was present inside the residence at the time of the incident which occurred at around 11 AM, as per the PTI.
Members of the Maratha community have been staging protests seeking reservation in government jobs and education under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
The agitation intensified after Manoj Jarange sat on an indefinite fast from October 25 at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district as part of the second phase of the protest.
(with PTI inputs)
