Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Prasad Lad on Friday reached out to Maratha quota activist Manoj Garang Patel and assured him that the Devendra Fadnavis-led government would take necessary steps to fulfill his pending demands.
The meeting comes after Garang Patel announced his plans to go on an indefinite hunger strike from May 30 at Antarwali Sarathi in Jalna.
Lad told Garang Patel that he would discuss his points with the government
“I am confident that Garang Patel will be satisfied with the efforts being made by the government to meet the demands of the Maratha community. No other government has done for the Maratha community like the Fadnavis government. I stand with the Maratha community and, as a member of the community, I will not hesitate to give up my membership in the legislative council,” Lad, a member of the state legislative council, said.
A government official said that the communication comes against the backdrop of a view within the government that it is better to avoid any development that highlights public discontent. He said the ruling alliance wants to convince Maratha quota activists to at least postpone the protest, if not cancel it completely.
Garang Patel announced the indefinite strike nine months after he protested in Mumbai to press for demands related to reservation for the Maratha community. After meeting Lad on Friday, the Maratha quota activist said the assurances regarding Maratha reservation, which he had given during his protest in Mumbai in August last year, have not been implemented by the government yet.
“The state government had issued government resolutions to implement Hyderabad gazette records and issue Kunbi certificates to all Marathas, but the implementation process has gone backwards. Kunbi certificates are not being issued, and district-level officials claim that they have directions from the chief minister not to issue them. Validity certificates are also not being issued to Maratha students who have applied on the basis of Kunbi certificates,” he said.
Garang Patel also said that the cases registered against Maratha activists during the quota protests are yet to be withdrawn. He added that the Financial Development Corporation, which provides interest financing for entrepreneurial projects of the Maratha community, has not been allocated funds.
He also wanted to give the committee headed by retired judge Sandeep Shinde a one-year extension to collect more documents related to Kunbi, enabling Marathas to benefit from the OBC quota.
Garang Patel also wants the government to keep the Maratha and Kunbi districts separate to ensure focused efforts for the benefit of the Maratha community. He also said that the admission of over 6 million Maratha students will be jeopardized if their OBC certificates are not issued in time.
“Welcoming the government’s initiative for dialogue, I apprised Lad of our outstanding demands of eight to nine and expected them to be resolved before May 30. Lad assured me that he would take up these issues with the Cabinet sub-committee appointed for Maratha quota and, if necessary, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and come back to us by May 28. We have not withdrawn our protest call and if the demands are not met, we will have no option but to go ahead with the scheduled protest,” he said.
Garang Patel added that in light of the dialogue initiated with the government, he asked community members to postpone their pre-protest meetings.
“Since the meetings held for preparation and planning have been suspended, the planning process is likely to be affected. In such a situation, I may have to change the course of action and, if necessary, start the protest on my own. In this case, I will appeal to the community members not to come to Antarwali Sarathi to join the protest,” he said.
