"Jarange Patil should call off his fast...," CM Shinde positive about giving Maratha reservation
Sep 11, 2023
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 11 : After concluding the all-party meeting on the Maratha reservation, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said that the government has decided to give reservations to Marathas and accepted many of the protesters' demands.
"In the meeting, we have decided to give reservation to Marathas. The government is of the view to give reservations to Maratha without touching the other (castes) reservations," CM Shinde said.
He further said, "The decision to give reservations to Marathas must be valid legally and it must stand in law, so we are working on it…the government has accepted many of the protester's demands too."
Earlier, an all-party meeting on the Maratha reservation was chaired by CM Shinde at Sahyadari Guest House in Mumbai.
Along with CM Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar are also taking part in the meeting.
Meanwhile, the government has also taken a decision to take all the cases back filed during the clashes.
"The government has taken a decision to withdraw all the cases back filed during the clashes, and we have given the order to the authorities for the same too… we don’t support the action of lathi charge," he added.
Expressing concern over Manoj Jarange Patil's health CM Shinde said that all party leaders passed a resolution that Patil should call off his fast (hunger strike).
"We have passed a resolution in all-party meetings and the health of Jarange Patil and he must take back (end) his hunger strike, I request him to end his hunger strike as we are concerned about his health," he added.
Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly Ambadas Danve and Vijay Wadettiwar were also invited to the meeting.
Jayant Patil, Balasaheb Thorat, Anil Parab, Rajesh Tope, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Raju Patil, Vinod Nikolay, Sadbhau Khot, Rajendra Gavai, Sunil Tatkare, Gautam Sonawane are some of the leaders who are present in the meeting.
Meanwhile, Maratha outfits had called for a bandh today in protest against the recent lathi charge by the police in Jalna district against protesters demanding reservation in Maharashtra.
The call for a bandh (shutdown) has received widespread support from various political parties. Suhas Desai, the head of the city unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), has voiced his support for the Bandh. Similarly, Pradeep Shinde, the city president of the Shiv Sena (UBT), has also backed the move.
On September 1, a clash broke out between police and those demanding reservations for the Maratha community. Police resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the demonstrators.'
Meanwhile, Manoj Jarange Patil who works as a coordinator for the Maratha Morcha and has been on a hunger strike for the past few weeks for Maratha reservations continued his strike. He has held extensive talks with the Maharashtra government but a breakthrough is yet to be achieved.
Jarange Patil has demanded a change in the ordinance issued by the state government regarding Maratha reservations. Their stand is that the fast to death will continue unless the desired change is made in the ordinance.