Jalna (Maharashtra), Feb 5 (IANS): Claiming that some Maratha leaders were “jealous”, the Shivba Sanghatana leader Manoj Jarange-Patil reiterated on Monday that he would go on a hunger strike from February 10.
Speaking to the media, Jarange-Patil demanded that the Maharashtra Government immediately implement its promises on the draft given to him on January 27 and initiate the work on giving the Marathas reservation.
The Maratha leader said, “A handful of 10-20 disgruntled people from the government as well as opposition groups, have taken the contract to speak against me and attack me on social media. They are jealous of me and resent me… This fight is for the Marathas… But from now onwards, if they don’t stop their antics, then I will reveal their names along with their parties and leaders.”
He said that these people keep raising issues like “what have the Marathas got?” or what have the “Marathas lost through this long movement.”
“They are making desperate attempts to sideline me. But I will not step aside till my Maratha brethren tell me to… These elements want to grab credit and are resorting to such tactics,” declared Jarange-Patil.
He slammed those “bent upon destroying the cause of the Marathas” and said that a handful of people are “unable to digest the fact that a man from a poor family is fighting for the community’s quota. They are worried that if I am not broken and the agitation is not managed, they will lose their standing among the Marathas.”
“Wherever I go, people always talk of Maratha quotas. For the cause of the community, I will go ahead with my hunger strike from February 10,” he said.
Simultaneously, the opposing OBC groups have also threatened to intensify their agitation vis-à-vis the Marathas, especially after breakaway Nationalist Congress Party (AP) Minister, Chhagan Bhujbal, disclosed how he had “quit” his post way back on November 16, and his resignation letter was still with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
On his part, Shinde has repeatedly assured that the Maratha quotas would be given without affecting the share of other communities.