Mumbai: Days ahead of Manoj JarangePatil's visit to the Western Maharashtra from August 7, as many as four MLAs, including two from the BJP and one from the Shiv Sena and an Independent backing Mahayuti government, had a meeting with the Maratha quota activist at Antarwali Sarati in Jalna district on Saturday.
About The Meeting
As announced, the leader will declare his political role about fielding candidates for the upcoming assembly elections. The MLAs who met Jarange Patil include BJP's Narayan Kuche and Ranajagatjitsinha Patil, and Shiv Sena's Balaji Kalyankar, all from the Marathwada regions. Rajendra Raut, an independent MLA from Barshi also met him.
During the meeting, Jarange reiterated his demand for accommodating Maratha community in OBC category by giving them Kunbi certificates. Notably, Jarange's announcement on his political role has unnerved both the political fronts in Maharashtra - the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi. He has said that he and his supporters were not interested in politics but were being forced into it due to the delay in acceding to their demands.
The government must give reservations to the community under any of the three options, namely OBC, Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC), he said.
“Give us a quota and we will hold you in high regard. Marathas must be recognised as Kunbis (an agrarian community that is part of the OBC segment),” Jarange told the legislators, agency reports have quoted him as saying.
The delegation said it would convey his demands to the state government and work towards resolving the issue at the earliest.
