Devendra Fadnavis wants to kill me: Maratha activist Jarange

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil on Sunday said he would march to Mumbai and protest outside the residence of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who he accused of trying to "kill" him.

Patil also alleged that Fadnavis was conspiring to sabotage protests staged by the Maratha community for reservation in government jobs and education. Addressing a gathering at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district, Jarange claimed that Fadnavis had been trying to defame him by getting people to malign his image, and then alleged that the deputy CM was plotting to kill him.

"Some people are being lured and pressured to make false allegations against me. Fadnavis is behind these conspiracies. He wants to kill me. I am ready to march to Sagar bungalow (Fadnavis' official residence in Mumbai's Malabar Hill) right away," Jarange said.

The announcement led to chaos at the site, where the activist's supporters had gathered in large numbers. Even as some of them tried to take away his microphone, Jarange said he would march to Mumbai alone and all he needed was a stick for support.

Hitting back, Maharashtra BJP MLA Nitesh Rane warned Jarange that he would have to cross a "huge wall of party workers" to reach Fadnavis, adding that the quota activist was "now reading from a script".

“When the lathi charge happened during protests in Jalna last year, Fadnavis had to apologise. This hurt him deeply, so he is trying to sabotage the Maratha quota protest,” Jarange said, claiming that the state government was run by Fadnavis, not chief minister Eknath Shinde or the second deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.

The activist alleged that Fadnavis was trying to threaten the Marathas in the state, and the move would backfire on him. He said, “Unfortunately, some Maratha leaders in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are helping Fadnavis defame me.”

Jarange warned that he would begin a protest at Sagar bungalow, the official residence of Fadnavis in Mumbai. “If I die, place my body in front of his house,” he said.

Earlier this week, the Maharashtra legislature unanimously passed a bill providing 10 per cent reservation for Marathas in education and government jobs under a separate category, but Jarange is firm on his demand for a quota for the community under the Other Backward Class category.

The activist has also been demanding that the state government implement the draft notification on 'blood relatives' of Kunbi Marathas and called for non-violent road blockades across the state from Saturday.