By | Arvind Jadhav
Mumbai: Maratha quota leader Manoj Jarange-Patil has restarted his agitation in Mumbai with an indefinite fast at Azad Maidan, transforming the precinct into a round-the-clock protest site despite monsoon showers and rolling traffic curbs. The state, led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, says it is ready to engage but will only move within the bounds of law and will not allow “politics of provocation” to pit Marathas and OBCs against each other.
By Friday evening, police extended day-by-day permission for the Azad Maidan gathering, kept crowd caps in place, and issued diversions across South Mumbai as volunteers from Marathwada, Vidarbha, and western Maharashtra arrived in buses, cars, and on foot. Inside the enclosure, Jarange told supporters he will stay put “for as long as it takes,” renewing his demand that all eligible Marathas be recognised as Kunbi to access the OBC quota, and that kinship criteria be honored where documentary proof exists.
At Mantralaya, the cabinet sub-committee chaired by Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil has Jarange’s memorandum in hand and has promised to examine each clause. The government maintains that any settlement must withstand judicial scrutiny, even as OBC organisations announce their own mobilisations to resist any dilution of the 27% quota.
Chief Minister Fadnavis, meanwhile, has called for restraint during the festive season and warned against those “trying to cash in” on social fault lines. “The solution will be constitutional; public order will not be compromised,” he said, adding that the administration is committed to protecting the interests of both Marathas and OBCs.
With the protest site swelling despite heavy rains, authorities continue to manage traffic disruptions in South Mumbai, while protest leaders insist they will not leave until concrete decisions are announced. The coming days will be crucial as the cabinet panel considers documentation pathways, kinship inclusion norms, and future dialogue schedules, even as OBC bodies closely watch each move for signs of quota dilution.
