Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange
Credit: PTI File Photo
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The strategy regarding the coming Maharashtra assembly elections will be declared on August 29, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil said here on Thursday.
He and his followers will support any political party or leader who champions the cause of reservation for the Marathas, he said.
Elsewhere, BJP leaders continued to target him, asking why he never spoke against NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar or Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray.
Jarange was speaking to reporters at a private hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar where he is undergoing treatment after his latest hunger strike for reservation.
"We will declare our strategy of contesting assembly elections on August 29, and a meeting will be held for this. We will field our own candidates, and also stand with those who are standing with the Maratha community and will give us in writing that they support Maratha reservation. No matter what caste and community they belong to," he said.
In Mumbai, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar asked why Jarange did not say a word against those who never made any effort to get reservation for the Maratha community.
"In fact, these persons were the ones who ensured that the reservation got cancelled," he added, without naming anyone.
"He is raising doubts against those who gave reservation and retained it, and many students and youth had benefitted from it, but he does not utter a word against those who got it cancelled. When Sharad Pawar was chief minister (in the 1990s), the Maratha community did not get reservation (in the OBC quota). Did Jarange ever speak against him?" Shelar asked.
"Later, with support from Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray became chief minister, and during his tenure the reservation could not be retained in the court. Did Jarange ever speak against Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar or even (state Congress chief) Nana Patole?" the BJP leader further said.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party has always supported the demands of the Maratha community....Devendra Fadnavis and the BJP tried to get Maratha reservation legally sanctioned. As long as Jarange is talking about reservation, we are with him. But the moment he crosses the line and makes political statements, we will also be compelled to cross the line," said Shelar.
BJP leaders Pravin Darekar and Prasad Lad have also made critical remarks about Jarange in the last few days.
Shelar also said that Jarange did not represent the entire Maratha community.