Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, on his eighth indefinite hunger strike since September 2023, warned the Maharashtra government against testing the Maratha community’s patience, demanding a 10% reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category at a press conference in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan on Saturday. Jarange, leading thousands of supporters who marched from Jalna to Mumbai starting August 27, clarified that Marathas seek recognition as Kunbis—an agrarian caste already under OBC—to access job and education quotas without reducing existing OBC benefits.

“We’re not asking to cut OBC quotas; we want our rightful share as Kunbis based on historical records,” Jarange stated, refuting government claims of Maratha demands encroaching on OBC reservations. He accused Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of spreading misinformation and insulting poor Marathas by delaying the ‘sage soyare’ (blood relatives) notification, pending for 18 months, which would extend Kunbi status to Marathas with ancestral records. “The government is creating instability,” he alleged, citing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) restrictions on food, water, and public toilet access for protesters, reportedly under Fadnavis’s influence.

The protest, which swelled beyond the permitted 5,000 participants, caused traffic disruptions in South Mumbai, with police diverting BEST buses. Jarange urged supporters to remain peaceful despite provocations, emphasizing, “We’re not here for politics, only reservation.” The Maharashtra Assembly’s 2024 bill granting Marathas a separate 10% quota as a Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) was rejected by Jarange, who insists on OBC inclusion to bypass the Supreme Court’s 50% quota cap, which struck down a similar 16% Maratha quota in 2021.

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Social media posts reflect growing frustration, with supporters praising Jarange’s resolve but criticizing alleged government apathy. Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief, backed the protest, accusing the Mahayuti government of neglecting Marathas. The march, coinciding with Ganesh Chaturthi, plans to continue at Azad Maidan, with Jarange threatening to escalate if the government misses the August 26 deadline for legal OBC reservation.

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