Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil.
Credit: PTI Photo
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Activist Manoj Jarange took a swipe at right-wing leader Sambhaji Bhide, who allegedly questioned the need for reservation for Marathas.
Talking to reporters on Sunday, Jarange alleged that Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was using Bhide as a new weapon against him.
"Bhide is speaking Fadnavis's words, and he is being used as a new weapon against me. The Maratha community is going farther away from Fadnavis and the BJP," Jarange claimed.
He also slammed Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal over his statement about the number of Marathas who attended his rally in Nashik.
Bhujbal, a leader of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community, on Sunday claimed that only 8,000 Marathas had attended Jarange's rally in Nashik on August 13.
The activist held rallies in Solapur, Sangli, Kolhapur, Satara, Pune, Ahmednagar and Nashik in the last couple of weeks.
"Bhujbal is a member of the state government, and Fadnavis is the home minister. The police belong to them. We know how many Marathas were in the rally. If Bhujbal is keeping a count of Marathas taking to the streets, he should be made an officer of the regional transport office (RTO) and handed a whistle to count Marathas in vehicles," he said.
Jarange has been demanding the implementation of the draft notification that recognises Kunbis as ‘sage soyare’ (blood relatives) of Maratha community members and reservation to the latter under the OBC category. Kunbis enjoy quota benefits as OBCs. However, OBC members have stressed that their quota should not be diluted.