Jarange suspends fast on Maratha quota, demands action in one-month

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Thursday suspended his indefinite fast over the reservation issue six days after launching it, and set a deadline of one month before the Maharashtra government to accept the community's demands.

He made the announcement after Maharashtra minister and member of Maratha quota sub-committee Shambhuraj Desai, Shiv Sena MP Sandipan Bhumre met him at his native Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district and discussed the issue.

Addressing people at the protest site, Jarange said, "We are giving a month's time to the government to fulfil the demands of the Maratha community. But we will also go ahead with our preparations for the upcoming assembly elections. If the government doesn't provide reservation to us, we will go and take it."

"If the demands are not fulfilled in a month, neither the Opposition members nor those in the government should come to us. We will defeat the candidates (in the state assembly elections) by declaring their names," he said.

Jarange, who launched his fresh round of protest from Saturday, has been demanding implementation of the draft notification that recognises Kunbis as "sage soyare" (blood relatives) of Maratha community members and also seeking a law to identify Kunbis as Marathas.

Kunbi, an agrarian group, falls under the Other Backward Classes category, and Jarange has been demanding that Kunbi certificates be issued to all Marathas, thus making them eligible for quota benefits.

Talking after his meeting with Jarange, minister Desai said, "A meeting will be convened tomorrow (over the issue). Of the last five months, two months passed in following the model code of conduct (for the Lok Sabha polls). We will take a positive decision on the demands of the Maratha community in a month. If additional manpower is required to expedite the work, we will do so with the permission of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde."