Jarange Rejects Govt Assurances, Firm On Indefinite Fast From Today

Mumbai: Despite holding talks with Manoj Jarange Patil for a couple of hours on Friday, the Maharashtra Government delegation failed to find a solution as the Maratha quota activist stood firm on his decision to hold a hunger strike from Saturday.

A government delegation led by senior BJP minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil arrived in Antarwali Sarati village to hold discussions with Jarange. However, despite a lengthy two-hour discussion, no resolution was reached.

During these discussions, Jarange remained firm on his demands. The delegation and Jarange also discussed the number of records found across the state. Differences of opinion arose between them regarding certain points during this talks. Following this, Jarange stated that he will definitely go ahead with the hunger strike starting Saturday.

During the meeting, Vikhe-Patil said, “An SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) has been formulated following a series of meetings held consistently over the past few months. Through this mechanism, caste certificates can be issued on a large scale. Orders have been issued to take action against officials whose inaction was causing delays in the issuance of these certificates. I have issued instructions to all District Collectors in this regard.

“So far – prior to the constitution of the committee – 2.5 lakh certificates were issued; subsequently, another 61,000 have been issued. Efforts were made to accelerate this process starting in March, but it did not gain the desired momentum. We anticipate positive results in the coming months. We have succeeded in withdrawing 90 percent of the criminal cases filed during the agitation; this was made possible through diligent follow-up,” he added.

Earlier, BJP MLC Prasad Lad, who was part of the delegation, appealed to Jarange to not go ahead with it. In a social media post, Lad said, “It is my sincere appeal to my brother to not protest in this scorching heat. We value you and your work for the cause of Marathas. If the government fails to address your demands, I will be the first to give up my MLC post.”

Jarange has announced to begin the indefinite fast from May 30 in Antarwali Sarati village of Jalna district over the community’s ‘unfulfilled’ demands. He has decided to fast under the blazing sun without any shelter, citing the state government has failed to keep the promise of expediting kunbi certificates to Marathas under Hyderabad and Satara Gazette. According to him, even those eligible are not getting caste validity certificates.