The stalemate that continued for 17 days over Maratha reservation came to an end on Thursday morning as Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil called off his indefinite hunger strike after chief minister Eknath Shinde, along with other senior state cabinet members, met him at Antarwali-Saatii village in Jalna district.
After a back-and-forth about whether the chief minister should visit Jarange-Patil as he deferred the visit on Wednesday evening, Shinde decided to visit him on Thursday morning. He along with other senior ministers, including Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Girish Mahajan, Uday Samant, Union minister of state for railways Raosaheb Danve reached Antarwali Sarati in Jalna and convinced Jarange-Patil to call off the hunger strike.
Jarange-Patil sipped orange juice at the hands of the chief minister to end the hunger strike that has been going on since August 29 for the reservation. Jarange-Patil, a farmer, has been on an indefinite hunger strike at Antarwali-Sarathi village in Jalna since August 29, demanding that Marathas from Marathwada region be extended reservation under the Other Backward Classes category by declaring them as Kunbis — a sub-caste recognised as OBC.
CM Shinde said that he was committed to the reservation to the Maratha community and visited Jarange-Patil as the latter’s intention was honest and sincere.
“I do not want to name them, but many told me that I should not visit the Jarange Patil as it is against the protocol. Despite this, I decided to come as Jarange-Patil is fighting for his community and not for himself. I have assured him that everything will be done as per the promise and the state government is committed to it. Most of his demands have been fulfilled. The remaining ones will take some time as they need to be legally full proof,” Shinde said.