Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange has said that he will 'challenge Mandal commission' if Chhagan Bhujbal created hurdles in the way of reservation for the Marathas
Manoj Jarange. File Pic
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Thursday said he will "challenge Mandal commission" if Maharashtra minister and OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal created hurdles in the way of reservation for the Maratha communit, reported the PTI.
According to the PTI, Manoj Jarange also warned that if the government did not implement its assurance to give Kunbi caste certificates to "sage-soyare" or blood relatives of those who have already established themselves as belonging to the Kunbi community, he would launch a fresh hunger strike from February 10.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Just like you have sons and daughters, we too have sons and daughters. We do not want to challenge the Mandal commission. You live and let us live. But if you created hurdles in the path of our reservation, our patience will run out and we will have to challenge the Mandal commission," Manoj Jarange told reporters in Nashik.
Notably, reservation for the OBC communities in education and government jobs was implemented for the first time at the national level on the basis of the Mandal commission's report some three decades ago, as per the PTI.
"State food and civil supplies minister and OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal has created problems for the Maratha reservation thrice. He should stop it," Manoj Jarange said.
Chhagan Bhujbal has been opposing the state government's decision to facilitate grant of Kunbi certificates to Marathas, which was Manoj Jarange's demand.
Kunbis get reservation in the OBC category, and Chhagan Bhujbal last month termed his own government's concessions to Manoj Jarange's agitation as granting backdoor entry to Marathas in the OBC quota.
"The proposed hunger strike from February 10 is for the implementation of the 'sage-soyare' order. The demand of revocation of criminal cases filed against Maratha agitators has also not been fulfilled," the activist further said, the news agency reported on Thursday.
On Chhagan Bhujbal's warning that he will resign if injustice was meted out to the OBCs, Manoj Jarange said the minister was not someone who resigns. "He takes resignations of others," he said to a question.
Earlier this week, addressing a rally in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar, Chhagan Bhujbal, who belongs to the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP, reiterated that he was not opposed to Marathas getting the reservation but is against sharing the existing OBC quota.
(with PTI inputs)
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
