Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange will hold a rally in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Saturday, wherein he might announce the next course of his agitation, organisers said on Thursday.
To send his message “loud and clear,” 250 loudspeakers will be installed in all four directions in a 500-metre radius of the venue, they said.
Jarange had on June 13 suspended his indefinite fast over the Maratha quota and set a deadline of one month before the state government would accept the community’s demands.
The activist’s rally will commence at 11 am on Saturday (July 13) from the CIDCO bus stand and culminate 4 km away at Kranti Chowk, where he will address a gathering, said the organisers.
Jarange might spell out his next step at the public meeting, they said. Vehicular movement at the Kranti Chowk, which is the city centre, near the busy Jalna Road will be stopped during the rally. People from the Maratha community from all neighbouring districts are expected to attend Jarange’s programme and eight huge grounds have been reserved to park the vehicles bringing them, the organisers said.
“We are giving a month’s time to the government to fulfil the demands of the Maratha community. But we will also go ahead with our preparations for the upcoming assembly elections. If the government doesn’t provide a reservation to us, we will go and take it,” Jarange said on June 13 after suspending his fast.
Jarange has been demanding the implementation of the draft notification that recognises Kunbis as “sage soyare” (blood relatives) of Maratha community members and also seeking a law to identify Kunbis as Marathas.
Kunbi, an agrarian group, falls under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, and Jarange has been demanding that Kunbi certificates be issued to all Marathas, thus making them eligible for quota benefits.
