In Photos: BMC workers gather garbage outside Azad Maidan during Maratha quota protest

BMC workers gather garbage on one side of the road outside Azad Maidan, where Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil has warned the Devendra Fadnavis-led government that he will not leave Mumbai until his “constitutionally valid” demand for Maratha reservation is accepted. Jarange, who began his indefinite hunger strike on August 29, entered the third day of his protest on August 31, 2025. (Pics/Ashish Raje)

Updated On: 2025-09-01 09:56 AM IST

Compiled by : ronak mastakar

Pic/Ashish Raje

Activist Manoj Jarange has vowed to stop drinking water from the fourth day of his hunger strike on Monday and brave "bullets" over his demand for reservation to the Maratha community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category

He has demanded the government issue a GR based on the reservation based on available records

For its part, the Maharashtra government on Sunday said it will seek a legal opinion on implementing the Hyderabad gazetteer on the Kunbi status- an OBC caste- for the Maratha community

Jarange, however, remained unimpressed and said he won't budge from the protest venue at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai till his demands are met, even if the Devendra Fadnavis government fires bullets at protesters

He has been staging an indefinite hunger strike at the Azad Maidan from Friday over his demand for a 10 per cent quota for Marathas under the OBC category

Asserting he will not leave Mumbai till his demands are met, Jarange on Sunday said, "The government has records of 58 lakh Marathas as Kunbis"

"From tomorrow (Monday), 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 the reservation for Marathas under the OBC category no matter what," the activist told his supporters

"The government should say that Marathas are a sub-caste of Kunbis. There are 58 lakh records that have been found, which show links of Marathas as Kunbis. Those who want a reservation will take it. Don't generalise Marathas as Kunbis if there is a legal issue," Jarange told a press conference on Sunday night

No one can stop Marathas from getting reservation under the OBC category, he claimed

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