Jarange-Patil ends hunger strike, gives Maha govt 30 days to solve Maratha imbroglio

Jalna (Maharashtra): Shivba Sanghatana leader Manoj Jarange-Patil on Thursday called off his indefinite hunger strike on the sixth day after a state government delegation met and cajoled him to give time to resolve the pending Maratha quotas issue.

State Minister Shambhuraj Desai, MP Sandipan Bhumre, MLA Ranajagjitsinh P. Patil and other officials travelled to Antaravali-Sarati village where Jarange-Patil had launched the agitation on June 8.

The official team rushed there soon after the Maratha leader issued a stern 24-hour deadline to the government to resolve the Maratha quotas issue failing which he would intensify his agitation from Friday (June 14).

After discussions and a fervent appeal by the delegation, Jarange-Patil agreed to extend his ultimatum by one month - till July 13 – to enable the government to implement the necessary measures for Maratha quotas.

Jarange-Patil reiterated his earlier warning that Marathas would not only contest all the 288 Maharashtra Assembly elections in October, but also name specific candidates from all parties against whom the community would vote en masse, and they would come to power and grant the reservation.

Desai told media persons that the delegation assured him that the MahaYuti government is working sincerely to implement the pending demands including the 'sage-soyare' (bloodline) without unnecessary delays.

"We are committed and we shall definitely solve the issue of Maratha reservation within the framework of the law, objections will be placed before the next cabinet meeting. There is no intention to delay or drag the matter," he declared.

The Minister said that the election code of conduct for two months during the Lok Sabha elections had delayed the decision-making, but now it will be revived, and he would speak with the concerned officials and set in motion the process to issue the notification for ‘sage-soyare’.

After the assurances, Jarange-Patil accepted a glass of orange juice from the delegation members, symbolising the end of his fifth hunger strike in the past 11 months. Shortly after that, Jarange-Patil was driven off to the Galaxy Hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) for treatment as he had become weak after abstaining from food for the past 6 days.

In the past four days, parliamentarians and legislators from both the ruling MahaYuti’s partners - the Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Nationalist Congress Party and opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, the Shiv Sena-UBT, the Nationalist Congress Party-SP, and the Congress including Bajrang Sonwane, Omraje Nimbalkar, Kalyan Kale, plus legislators, met and expressed support to Jarange-Patil while blaming the MahaYuti of remaining indifferent to the Marathas issue.