Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil reached Mumbai on Friday morning where he will hold a rally in Azad Maidan demanding reservation for the Maratha community. The Mumbai police granted him and his supporters permission on Wednesday to hold the rally for a day between 9am and 6pm, with no more than 5,000 people.
Jarange-Patil has declared to hold an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan until his demands are fulfilled.
Jarange-Patil entered the city along with a huge convoy of vehicles and an estimated 40,000 supporters, according to the estimation shared by the Mumbai police.
The Mumbai city police has put in place traffic restrictions and created a green corridor for his convoy to reach Azad Maidan from Vashi toll naka via the Eastern Freeway so that the city traffic does not get affected.
Also Read: Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil to go on indefinite fast again from January 25
The Eastern Freeway was shut down for commute from Thursday night. As planned, his convoy entered the city through Vashi toll plaza and took the Eastern Freeway to reach Azad Maidan.
When the convoy reached Chembur, Sana Malik, MLA from the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction met Jarange-Patil.
Jarange-Patil along with his supporters, marched from Antarwali Sarathi village, Jalna district, on Wednesday morning.
This is the activist’s ninth protest over two years pushing for reservation for the Maratha community in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota based on the Kunbi certificates issued to community members.
The cabinet sub-committee in Maratha reservation, headed by senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, is expected to meet Jarange-Patil on Friday.
In January last year, when he led his first march to Mumbai, he stopped at Vashi following a request from the state government.
He held a hunger strike at Shivaji Chowk in Vashi which was called off after then chief minister Eknath Shinde met him and declared to accept his demands.
Shinde assured to issue Kunbi certificates to all 57 lakh Marathas with Kunbi antecedents and those blood relatives and relatives formed out of marriages in the same caste so that they can get benefits of OBC reservation.
A draft notification to this effect was also issued by the state social justice department which is yet to be implemented.
The implementation of the draft notification is one of the demands of Jarange-Patil.
The quota activist came into the limelight when he sat on a hunger strike in September 2023 at Antarwali Sarathi village, demanding blanket reservation for Marathas bearing Kunbi certificates under the OBC category. As the stir gained momentum, over eight lakh Kunbi certificates were issued to Marathas, enabling them and their families to benefit from the OBC quota.
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