Quota fight headed for no-holds-barred leg
Updated On: 30 October, 2023 08:06 AM IST | Mumbai | Dharmendra Jore
Mounting agitation could affect ruling parties severely, especially if OBCs begin to feel government is against them
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Activist Manoj Jarange Patil with supporters on October 19. Pic/PTI
The Maratha quota agitation has entered an intense phase, once again after five years when the community was granted reservation. This time around, the activism is more severe than ever. At least ten Marathas have ended their lives. Violence broke out in the streets in some places. Leaders cutting across the parties have been barred entry to hundreds of villages and towns. Activist Manoj Jarange Patil, a non-entity till the end of August this year, has assumed a prime role in influencing the community to intensify the agitation. Jarange Patil’s resumption of fast unto death has inspired many Marathas to take up the hunger agitation in their respective natives. The community is in no mood to backtrack.
The Shinde government is on the edge. Apparently, it doesn’t have a resolution that can satisfy the largest community in the state. Yet, it will make another attempt to find a sustainable way through the special cabinet sub-committee meeting on Monday. In a nutshell, the government has been cornered. The Opposition is happy, because it did not have to face this kind of severe agitation when it was in power till recently and for decades before that. While it also faces the Maratha wrath, but not as intensely as the ruling parties, the Opposition has been trying to make the most of the Maratha anger as the current government struggles to woo the community.
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