Manoj Jarange threatens Mumbai march over Maratha reservation demands

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange renewed his demand for Kunbi caste certificates as his hunger strike entered its second day in Jalna. He warned of a Mumbai march if the Maharashtra government fails to act and set September 12 as a deadline

Jalna: Activist Manoj Jarange on Sunday stood firm on his demand for Kunbi caste certificates for eligible Marathas as his indefinite hunger strike entered its second day, warning that he would march to Mumbai if the Maharashtra government failed to act.

Jarange launched his 11th indefinite fast over Maratha reservation-related demands at his native Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district on Saturday, where thousands of community members have gathered in support of his agitation.

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He has been demanding that eligible Marathas be recognised as Kunbis, an agrarian community that enjoys reservation benefits in education and government jobs under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

“The Maharashtra government should declare all Marathas as Kunbi,” the activist told reporters on the second day of his agitation.

Jarange said that if the government failed to accept his demands, he would march to Mumbai and intensify the agitation.

A meeting of the Maratha community’s core committee, led by him, would be held in Antarwali Sarati on September 12 to decide on a hunger strike in Mumbai.

“If the government accepts our demands by September 12, there will be no need to hold the proposed fast in Mumbai,” the activist said.

Jarange is demanding the immediate issuance of Kunbi certificates to eligible members of the Maratha community based on 58 lakh historical records, asserting that the community will not grant any further time.

He has also demanded that caste certificate verification be suspended, arguing that there is no need for it in cases covered by the historical records.

The activist has urged the state government to grant reservation based on the Satara Gazette, withdraw all police cases registered against quota protesters across Maharashtra, and provide government jobs and financial compensation to the families of those who died during previous agitations.

Jarange also demanded the immediate cancellation of a farmer and youth programme scheduled to be held in Parbhani in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde later in the day, warning that he would attend the event if it was not called off.

The programme has been organised by Parbhani MP Sanjay Jadhav, who recently joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Several local leaders and office-bearers associated with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) are also expected to join the Shinde faction at the event.

The activist said he spoke to Jadhav over the phone, asking him to cancel the programme and warning that he would attend the event if it was not called off.

He alleged that caste certificates of members of the Maratha community had been cancelled and said he would not remain silent over the issue.

“I never go to attack anyone. But our Maratha community’s rightful certificates have been cancelled. Hence, cancel the programme immediately; otherwise, I will come there,” he said.

Jarange also criticised Jadhav and warned that the situation could become tense if he went ahead with the programme.

“If I come there, they will face problems. The state will become unstable again, and the blame will fall on you,” he said, warning the organisers.

Meanwhile, Maratha Kranti Morcha state coordinator Dr Sanjay Lakhe Patil claimed that Maharashtra minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil had suggested that caste verification committees were unnecessary as such bodies did not exist elsewhere in the country.

This could create confusion and resentment among Maratha youth and members of other communities, Lakhe Patil told PTI.

Calling the reported suggestion “shocking, unconstitutional and illegal”, he said the concept of caste scrutiny committees was not confined to Maharashtra. He referred to a Supreme Court judgment in which directions were issued for setting up independent scrutiny committees to verify caste and tribal certificates.

He said the verification mechanism was intended to prevent the misuse of reservation by people producing false caste certificates and to ensure that quota benefits reached genuine beneficiaries.

Lakhe Patil warned that any attempt to abolish caste verification committees could face legal challenges, saying the issue concerned the reservation rights of people belonging to various castes and tribes and was not limited to the Maratha community.

On August 25, the state government gave a one-year extension to the committee tasked with scrutinising Kunbi records of the Maratha community.

The term of the committee, headed by retired Bombay High Court judge Sandeep Shinde, which ended on June 30, 2026, has been extended by a year until June 30, 2027, according to a government resolution (GR) dated August 25.

The multi-member panel was formed in September 2023 to decide the methodology for issuing Kunbi caste certificates to members of the Maratha community, enabling them to seek reservation in government jobs and education under the OBC category.

The GR said the work to trace Maratha-Kunbi genealogy was still incomplete in some districts and, accordingly, the panel needed more time to complete its task.