On the occasion of Shiv Rajyabhishek Day, BJP MP Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje, a descendant of Shivaji Maharaj, visited Raigad fort and declared that the first Maratha Morcha will be held in Kolhapur on June 16.
"The agitation will start from the Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj Samadhi in Kolhapur and if the demands are not met through the agitation, we will take out a long march from Mumbai to Pune," Sambhaji Raje added.
The BJP MP on May 28, had warned that if the Maharashtra government does not accept his demands concerning the Maratha community by June 6, he would launch an agitation regardless of the coronavirus-induced restrictions.
His warning came after three weeks after the Supreme Court struck down the Maharashtra law granting quota to the Maratha community in admissions and government jobs, by terming it as "unconstitutional", and held that there were no exceptional circumstances to breach the 50 per cent reservation cap set by the 1992 Mandal verdict.
The BJP leader, who is a descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, has been visiting parts of the state to discuss with locals from the community regarding the future course of action.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil on Saturday accused the state government of having a "casual approach" towards reservations for Marathas in education and jobs, and for OBCs in local bodies.
In both cases, the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government failed to present its case well before the Supreme Court which struck these quotas down, he told reporters here.
Patil came down heavily on the way the government handled the Maratha reservation case in the apex court.
"The state government wasted the time of the Supreme Court during the hearing by stretching it to more than a year.
(With inputs from agencies)
