Maratha leaders to observe Chintan Andolan from Feb 22

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

To attract the attention of the state government towards granting of Maratha reservation and other demands related to the withdrawal of cases against protesters, and issues related to the Sarathi and Annasaheb Patil Corporations, more than 12 organisations of the Maratha community got united and issued a warning of launching "Maratha Reservation Chintan Andolan" at Kranti Chowk from February 22.

On Monday, the leaders from the Maratha Kranti Morcha, Maratha Kranti Thok Morcha, and various Chhava organisations held a joint press conference. On behalf of these organisations, Ravindra Kale Patil said, “The government is neglecting the issue of Maratha reservation. The cabinet sub-committee has not been established yet, and the chairman of this committee has not been announced.”

Rajendra Datey Patil said, “ Despite having a 50% reservation limit, there has been an insistence on providing 10% reservation for EWS. According to the law, the state government has the authority to grant reservations. However, the 10% SEBC reservation provided by the government is not acceptable to us. We demand to provide reservation to the Maratha community in a constitutionally sustainable manner. A presentation on how this reservation can be granted will be made at the protest site.”

Ramesh Kere Patil said, “ All organisations of the Maratha community will come together for a protest at Kranti Chowk on February 22. Along with me, many others will sit on a hunger strike on this day. It has been decided that the protest will continue until the demands are fulfilled.” The press conference was attended by Shailesh Bhise, Dnyaneshwar Gaikwad, Nilesh Davhale, Kiran Dhurat, Rahul Patil, Sanket Shete, and others.

Meeting with two ministers of the city

We met with the guardian minister, Sanjay Shirsat, and OBC welfare minister, Atul Save, to draw the state government's attention to our demands. We requested that a meeting be organised with the CM to resolve the issue. If the government does not decide by February 22, we will go on a hunger strike, said Kere Patil.