Maratha Quota Activist Threatens to End Fadnavis Politically in Assembly Election

Mumbai: Soon after the Election Commission of India on Tuesday announced the schedule for Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha polls, the Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil issued a threat to deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis saying he will finish off the BJP leader in the forthcoming assembly elections for failing to provide reservation for Marathas.

“Despite being in power, Devendra Fadnavis did not give reservation to Marathas because he wanted to destroy the community. As a ruler, it was up to him to decide whether to give reservations to Marathas or not. Now it is in the hands of the Maratha community whether to vote for him or not. We will not rest till Fadnavis is finished off,” said Jarange.

The activist had demanded that the Marathas should be given reservation under the OBC category before the model code of conduct was implemented for the Vidhan Sabha elections. Speaking in the Dussehra rally a few days back, he had given a final warning to the state government saying he will reveal his stand after the election code of conduct was announced if the reservation was not given to Marathas.

As soon as the election schedule was announced, Jarange criticised Fadnavis on the reservation issue.

“(By not giving reservation), Fadnavis has made the lives of Maratha youths miserable. Marathas put him in power, but he made every effort to ruin their lives. He misused his power and hatched many conspiracies against the Marathas. The poor people of the Maratha community expected that the (Eknath) Shinde government would give them reservation, but that expectation has failed,” he added.

The activist alleged that 17 castes were deliberately included in the OBCs to deride the Marathas, but no reservation was given to the community.

Jarange has been leading protests demanding OBC certificates for recognising all Kunbis and their ‘sage soyre’ (relatives) as Marathas. Kunbis enjoy quota benefits as OBCs. However, OBC members have opposed the demand saying that their quota should not be diluted.

According to political observers, Jarange’s threat may play a spoilsport for the BJP again in the Vidhan Sabha polls. The consolidation of Maratha votes against the BJP was one of the major reasons for the party’s Lok Sabha debacle in Maharashtra, particularly in the Marathwada region.