Beed Maratha Protests: Agitators Set Fire To NCP Office, MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar's Home & Bhujbal Aide's Hotel; Visuals Surface

After Manoj Jarange Patil restarted his hunger strike over the demand of reservation for Maratha community, incidents of violence and of arson are being reported across several parts in the state. After incident of stone pelting and setting fire to vehicles outside NCP (Ajit Pawar) MLA Prakash Solanke's bungalow on Monday morning, protesters attacked the NCP office in Beed and set it on fire.

NCP MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar's bungalow set on fire

Additionally, Maratha protesters have engaged in protests and confrontations with hotels and offices having affiliation with political parties, leading to arson at these places.

In the troubled atmosphere in Beed, the bungalow belonging to MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar of the NCP (Sharad Pawar) and OBC senior leader Jaydutt Kshirsagar was set on fire. These ongoing incidents of violence have created a tense environment in Beed. Prior to this, Maratha protesters set fire to the office of KSK College, an institution associated with the Kshirsagar family.

Beed tensed, several instances of arson reported

'Hotel Sunrise,' located in Beed city on the Dhule-Solapur Highway, and belonging to minister Chhagan Bhujbal's close aide Subhash Raut was also set on fire by Maratha agitators.

Following the arson on Subhash Road, the main market area in Beed city, all the marketplaces in Beed city have been closed. Protesters set fire to two motorcycles placed on Subhash Road.

For the demand of Maratha reservation, a complete shutdown has been observed in the Vadwani taluka and the city. Maratha protesters, demanding reservations, conducted a roadblock agitation on Parli Road in Vadwani, right at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Square. This demonstration, inspired by Manoj Jarange Patil, aims to convey their message to the authorities to secure reservations for the Maratha community. Starting from today, fasting for the cause of reservations has begun in Vadwani.

At the same time, due to the ongoing lockdown, the Market in Vadwani city has also been closed. On the other hand, Maratha protesters had blocked Parli Road in Beed with a significant number of vehicles causing long traffic queues.

Bus services from Pune to Beed and Latur suspended amid tenions

On Monday, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) suspended its services from Pune to two Marathwada districts after protestors advocating for Maratha community reservation threw stones at several buses, an official reported. Bus services between Pune and the Beed and Latur districts in Marathwada were disrupted during the day, with several buses traveling through Beed being canceled. These buses were targeted and vandalized by unruly mobs at multiple locations, according to Dnyaneshwar Ranavare, the depot in-charge at Shivajinagar.

Every day, there are 25 buses that operate from Pune to Beed and nine buses to Latur. Ranavare mentioned, "The police have instructed us not to operate buses to these districts. Services on other routes have been running smoothly." The agitation for Maratha reservations escalated into violence on Monday as a mob vandalized and set fire to a house belonging to an NCP MLA and a section of a municipal council building in Beed district.