Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, who has announced that he will march to Mumbai to press for his demand for Kunbi sub-caste certificates for Marathas, has surprised everyone by training his guns on deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. On Sunday, he went a step further, alleging that both chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shinde are conspiring against him. Jarange-Patil has accused Shinde of betraying him and alleged that the latter is trying to derail his agitation.
Last week when he was in Nagpur, he announced that there would be strict monitoring of the hotels following citizens’ complaints. Revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule seems to be irked with the mushrooming of a hotel chain in his hometown, Nagpur. The brand is famous for couple-friendly accommodation. “After every two hotels, there is one with this board.
Citizens in the nearby area have been complaining to me,” he said but did not specify what exactly they were complaining of.
Some time ago, the chief minister’s office (CMO) issued a directive asking all such staffers who were not formally appointed to be sent back to their respective departments from their current informal posting with the ministers’ offices. After the date, their digital identity-card access for entry in Mantralaya building has reportedly been stopped. The drive is apparently part of the CMO’s aim to rid Mantralaya of corruption. The CMO, meanwhile, is unfazed. After Sirivella Prasad was appointed as All India Congress Committee in charge of Maharashtra, mediapersons asked state Congress leaders about him. It turned out that most of them were clueless. A couple of them quickly did a quick search on their phones to find out. Unlike Chennithala, Sirivella is not a well-known name even within the party. Many Congress leaders are sceptical whether he can command the same respect as his predecessor. But then, the party leadership is probably looking at resurrecting the organisation than worrying about coordination among the state Congress leaders, it seems.
The CMO also set a September 10 deadline for such staffers to report to their original departments. Bawankule, who is guardian minister of Nagpur district, has also issued a diktat that hotels should keep CCTV camera footage for 90 days so that police could monitor them. These staffers were working as personal secretaries, assistants and officers on special duty for the ministers, often due to personal preference of the ministers. Some ministers are complaining that the work in their offices is getting affected due to the sudden decision.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s decision to send 570 government staffers who were working as “borrowed staff” by ministers for their offices has left several ministers fuming.
Jarange-Patil’s attack on Fadnavis is not a surprise, since he has been doing so right from day one. His tirade against Shinde, however, is new. The bonhomie between him and Shinde—himself a Maratha—was on full display when the latter was chief minister and even later. Sena leaders, however, are avoiding any direct showdown with the Maratha activist, knowing full well that he still enjoys support within the community. ‘Couple-friendly’ hotels irks minister
The Maratha activist is expecting Shinde to convince Fadnavis to agree to his demands, which are not possible due to legal and political constraints, according to leaders in the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Jarange-Patil had even publicly told Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to see how Shinde had responded to his reservation demands.
