17 September,2026 11:59 AM IST | Beed | mid-day online correspondent
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange. File Pic
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Thursday called off his 20-day-old hunger strike, but warned that he would take the agitation to Mumbai if the Maharashtra government fails to consider his reservation demands within three months.
Jarange announced the decision after meeting a government delegation at Patoda in Beed district. The delegation included ministers Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Dada Bhuse, MLC Prasad Lad, MLA Suresh Dhas and senior government officials, PTI reported.
The development came days after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the government would not tolerate any intimidating tactics and questioned the timing of the agitation during the ongoing Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
During their meeting with Jarange in Patoda, where the activist had halted on his way to Mumbai, the delegation members informed him about the steps initiated by the state government on the Maratha reservation issue.
Vikhe Patil suggested that Jarange depute three representatives to monitor the progress of the official process concerning his demands.
"It will take around three to four months to act on the Kolhapur and Satara gazettes after a written comment is received from the Advocate General," the minister said, urging Jarange to call off his hunger strike.
Jarange said he remained firm on his demand for "official recognition" of historical administrative records, including the Hyderabad Gazette, Satara Gazette and Aundh Gazette, so that Marathas can establish their Kunbi lineage and claim reservation benefits under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
"The government should give in writing that not a single âKunbi' record will be ignored. The chief minister should sign that paper," he said, PTI reported.
Jarange said he would take his protest to Mumbai if the government reneged on the assurance given to him.
"If we are betrayed in the next three months, then we all will directly go to Mumbai along with our kids and women," he said, while asking the more than one lakh Marathas who had already travelled to Mumbai to return to their homes.
Jarange, who had set out from his village of Antarwali Sarati in Jalna district, was scheduled to reach Mumbai on September 19 after passing through Ahilyanagar, Pune and Khopoli in Raigad district.
Last year, Jarange's hunger strike at Azad Maidan brought parts of south Mumbai to a standstill as thousands of his supporters gathered in the city.
That agitation was called off on September 2, 2025, after the government accepted six of his eight demands and initiated steps towards issuing Kunbi classification certificates.
(With PTI inputs)
