25 May,2025 11:23 PM IST | Jalna (Maharashtra) | mid-day online correspondent
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange (above) urged community members to prepare for a long protest in Mumbai lasting 12 to 13 days. File Pic
Activist Manoj Jarange on Sunday said he will march to Mumbai on August 29 to renew the agitation for reservation for the Maratha community, reported the PTI.
Manoj Jarange, who has undertaken multiple hunger strikes to press the demand of reservation for the politically dominant community in government jobs and education, was speaking at Mahakala village in Ambad tehsil of the district.
Jarange urged community members to prepare for a long protest in Mumbai lasting 12 to 13 days.
The activist has been demanding reservations for Marathas under the OBC quota by recognising them as Kunbis. The Kunbis, an agrarian community, enjoy OBC reservation benefits.
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"My health is deteriorating, but I will not die until we get the reservation," an emotional Jarange said, adding, "We will march to Mumbai and we are not coming back empty-handed," according to the PTI.
Jarange also accused Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of trying to create a divide between the Marathas and OBC communities by using OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal.
Bhujbal, a senior Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, was inducted in the state cabinet earlier this week.
Bhujbal had earlier on Friday said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was keen on taking him in his cabinet during its first expansion in December also and played a key role in his induction this week, reported the PTI.
Chhagan Bhujbal (77), a prominent OBC leader, was inducted into the Fadnavis cabinet on Tuesday (May 20), marking his return to the Mahayuti 2.0 government after he was ignored for a ministerial position after the BJP-led coalition came back to power post-landslide victory in the November 2024 assembly polls.
The first expansion of the Fadnavis government took place in December last year and the second one on May 20 when the NCP leader took oath.
Asked about talks in certain quarters that the CM, a BJP leader, played a key role in his induction amid opposition within the NCP, Chhagan Bhujbal said, "It is true. In the first cabinet expansion also, CM Fadnavis saheb had insisted on my inclusion in the ministry. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had that also tried for the same. However, it could not happen that time," according to the PTI.
(with PTI inputs)
