27 January,2024 07:46 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil/ PTI
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil, who began his hunger strike on Friday, declared that the protest is now over stating that the Maharashtra government has "accepted our request". According to the reports, Jarange is expected to break his fast shortly on Saturday.
Speaking to the media, according to an ANI report, Patil said, "Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has done a good job. Our protest is now over. Our request has been accepted. We will accept the letter from him. I will drink juice by the hands of the Chief Minister tomorrow (Saturday)."
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Patil had already warned the state government that if their demands, which included a government resolution on Maratha quotas and the dismissal of police cases, were not met, they would march to Mumbai on Saturday.
He, according to the PTI report, had said, "I am taking a step backwards. If an ordinance (to meet his slew of demands) is not promulgated, I will come to Mumbai." "Once I set out, there will be no turning back," the activist had warned.
Maharashtra Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha emphasised that the recently passed ordinance resolves all issues, reducing the necessity for continued protests. He said that CM Eknath Shinde would end Patil's fast with juice, signalling the end of the movement.
"A movement which was going on in Maharashtra for Maratha reservation under the leadership of Manoj Jarange Patil has reached a solution today. The ordinance that was passed today has the solution to all the problems. Manoj Jarange Patil has announced that since the solution has been received, there is no need to continue the protests. CM Eknath Shinde will end Manoj Jarange Patil's fast with juice. The movement has reached a solution," Lodha said on Friday.
On May 5, 2021, the Supreme Court annulled reservations for the Maratha community in universities, higher education, and jobs, claiming a lack of legal grounds for exceeding the 50 per cent reservation ceiling while giving Maratha reservations.
