Jarange issues 4-day ultimatum to govt amid OBC activists' counter strike

Maratha leader Manoj Jarange on Wednesday gave a four-day ultimatum to the Maharashtra government to fulfill his demands even as Other Backward Class activists launched their own hunger strike to counter his agitation.

Jarange on Tuesday launched a fresh indefinite fast, sixth in a span of over a year, to press the demand of reservations for the Marathas under the Other Backward Classes category.

Speaking at his Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district, he said the community will not forgive the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-Nationalist Congress Party government in the state if its demands were not met.

"Fulfill our demands in the next four days, otherwise you will have to face serious repercussions in the elections....Marathas will not forgive you," he said.

A group of five OBC protesters, led by Mangesh Sasane, started an indefinite hunger strike at nearby Sonianagar.

Their demands included the cancellation of the controversial 'sage-soyare' notification which seeks to grant OBC status to the kin of those Marathas who have established that they belong to the Kunbi community.

The ruling coalition is prioritizing the Marathas while neglecting OBC issues, Sasane alleged.

"Our hunger strike is a protest against Jarange's demands. The government should not favor one group over another," he said, calling for equitable treatment to all communities.

The agrarian Kunbi community falls in the OBC category.

OBC leaders in the state, however, have been demanding that the Marathas should not share in the existing reservation for the backward classes, instead they should be given a separate quota.