Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Tuesday accused the Maharashtra government of betraying the Maratha community by not fulfilling promises related to reservation demands. He announced plans to launch a fresh hunger strike in Mumbai on August 29, escalating the ongoing agitation.
Speaking from Antarwali Sarthi village in Jalna district, Jarange alleged that the state has failed to act on four key commitments made to the community. He warned of a large-scale mobilization and urged Maratha farmers to complete agricultural work within two months in preparation for a march to Mumbai.
Jarange has long demanded the classification of Marathas as Kunbis, an agrarian caste under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, using historical records from the Bombay, Satara, and Hyderabad gazettes as evidence. He claimed that over 58 lakh documents have been submitted to support this linkage.
Despite the Shinde Committee’s efforts in tracing such records, Jarange criticised government officials for not issuing Kunbi certificates and for failing to publish the Sage Soyare gazette notification.
“The government has deceived us once again,” he said. “This time, I will not retreat. The administration must act, or be ready to face the consequences.”
Jarange also demanded the withdrawal of police cases filed against Maratha reservation protesters and called it a matter of trust and justice.
The Maratha reservation issue continues to be a politically sensitive and socially charged matter in Maharashtra, with Jarange emerging as one of its most prominent voices.
