Jarange Patil said in Pune on Tuesday that he is willing to talk with the government. In the apparent softening of stance, he also reiterated that he will not return to his village in Jalna unless Marathas are granted reservation. "I am willing to lay down my life, if need be," he asserted.
Unless the state government makes similar conciliatory noises, a head on collision is inevitable with the OBC Jan Morcha, an omnibus organisation of OBC castes, insisting on holding its scheduled rally at Azad Maidan, where Patil is expected to up the ante.
Prakash Shendge Speaks To FPJ
Morcha president Prakash Shendge told the FPJ on Tuesday that "Jarange Patil is trying to sneak in the 27% OBC quota through the backdoor by getting the state government to issue Kunbi certificates to Marathas."
"We will not tolerate that. There are already 374 castes in the OBC category which are all socially backward. How can Marathas, who are not socially backward, be included in our category?''
Referring to the ongoing survey of economic backwardness of Marathas which is being conducted by the government on a war-footing, Shende asked, "How is the Shinde government going to prove within one week (which is the time period during which the survey is to be concluded) that the Marathas are economically backward? The survey is a farce and a manipulated effort to prove that the Marathas are economically backward. The government has set a target for all district collectors for the issue of an aggregate 54 lakh Kunbi certificates. We will challenge this farcical exercise before the Bombay high court."
Shendge said, "Crores of rupees are being spent on the 400-km-long march launched by Jarange Patil from Jalna to Mumbai. He said thousands of vehicles form a part of the convoy and rose petals are showered on the procession from helicopters. JCBs are being used to garland Jarange Patil. It all smacks of event management. Where are the funds coming from?"
Shendge added, "We have also applied for permission to agitate at Azad Maidan. But even if police permission is denied, we will hold our protest."
At least 15,000 people were accompanying Jarange in Shikrapur with a convoy of about 750 vehicles, police said. Police have made elaborate security arrangements as the march led by Jarange will pass through Pune on the way to Mumbai
