Beed, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, who is on his way to Mumbai, said on Wednesday that his tour might be cancelled due to health issues arising from long hours of travel and his ongoing hunger strike.
He later addressed a gathering there. “If I take treatment, the government becomes completely carefree. If I stop treatment, they become tense. This tour to Mumbai is taking a toll on my health. I can continue if I’m fine, but such long travel is not good amid a hunger strike. “No vehicle should follow me from Patoda. I will change my route and go to Mumbai. I will only keep the police informed. Please let me go alone. He also questioned the timing of the agitation during the Ganesh festival.
Jarange reached Patoda in Maharashtra’s Beed district around 11 am, nearly 14 hours after setting out from Antarwali Sarati in Jalna, where he launched his fresh round of agitation.
The activist said he was facing a severe burning sensation in the stomach and feet. The tour can also be cancelled if there is no option,” he said. If I am not allowed to enter Mumbai, then you all can come,” he said. The CM said the government had accepted 12 of the 13 “legally valid” demands raised by Maratha protesters.
Hinting that the government won’t tolerate any intimidating tactics, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said on Tuesday that maintaining law and order was the responsibility of the police.
Jarange also appealed to his supporters to let him go to Mumbai alone. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Mumbai police earlier denied permission to Jarange, who has been on a hunger strike for the last 18 days demanding OBC quota for Maratha community members with Kunbi caste genealogies, to take the protest to Azad Maidan, citing law and order concerns during the ongoing Ganesh festival. As per his current plan, Jarange’s carcade will pass through Beed, Srigonda in Ahilyanagar, Hadapsar in Pune and Khopoli in Raigad district before reaching Azad Maidan in Mumbai on September 19, covering more than 400 km. Jarange had led a major five-day protest and a hunger strike at Azad Maidan on August 29, 2025, demanding Kunbi caste certificates for eligible Marathas. The stir was called off on September 2, 2025, after the state government accepted six of eight demands and initiated administrative steps for Kunbi classification certificates.
“Reservation is more important than the tour, which seems impossible because of the burning sensation in my stomach and feet,” he told the crowd in Patoda on Wednesday. Undeterred by the denial, Jarange on Tuesday set out for the Maharashtra capital in a convoy of cars, drawing hundreds of villagers en route who extended their support.
