Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on Tuesday sparked a political controversy by alleging that deputy chief minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde had told a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader that he had paid the activist ₹ 500 crore during his agitation for Maratha reservation two years ago.
“One month has passed, and another two months remain. Until then, I will not speak against the government. Jarange-Patil, who called off his 11th hunger strike after 20 days on September 17, said he would refrain from criticising the Maharashtra government until the three-month deadline he had announced expired.
I will wait for our demands to be fulfilled,” he said.
Addressing a massive Dussehra rally at Narayangad, a prominent religious site associated with the Maratha community in Beed district, Jarange-Patil also reiterated his resolve to march to Mumbai if the state government failed to fulfil his reservation demands within the three-month deadline he had set in September. I have evidence to substantiate my claim and can produce it at the appropriate time. The activist alleged that Shinde had made the claim during a conversation with a senior BJP leader and demanded a clarification on whether the deputy chief minister had misled the BJP leadership by invoking his name. The activist also accused the government of dragging its feet on issuing Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Marathas. Referring to a meeting of the cabinet subcommittee on Maratha reservation, headed by water resources minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, he alleged that the state government had decided to issue Kunbi certificates only where permitted under existing rules, without making any special concessions. Kunbis are classified as Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Maharashtra, and Marathas who establish their Kunbi ancestry can claim reservation benefits under the OBC category.
Jarange-Patil has been demanding that eligible Marathas be granted Kunbi certificates based on the 5.8 million Kunbi-related records identified by the government.
“On the eighth day of my indefinite hunger strike at Antarwali Sarathi last month, some senior political leaders told me that Shinde had claimed to have paid money to me. “Shinde should clarify whether his claim that the money was paid to me through his son, MP Shrikant Shinde, was false,” he said. I challenge Shinde saheb to address the matter at his Dussehra rally in Mumbai on Tuesday evening,” Jarange-Patil said.
Reacting to the allegation, Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam challenged Jarange-Patil to identify the BJP leader. “I am happy that Jarange-Patil has spoken openly about it.
Now, he should announce the name of the leader who told him about this. This could be an attempt to create a rift between the BJP and the Shiv Sena,” he said.
