Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil, who resumed his padayatra from Ranjangaon in Maharashtra on Tuesday, January 23, stated that they will hold a protest at Azad Maidan or Shivaji Park in Mumbai.
In a statement to news agency ANI, he said, "We will continue to march toward Mumbai... I am sure we will get permission to hold a protest at Azad Maidan or Shivaji Park. I want to thank the media for their cooperation till now. I want to appeal to the community members to cooperate with media people; they are supporting us throughout the movement."
Yesterday, Jarange Patil, who resumed his march on the second day from Beed district in Maharashtra, mentioned that they do not have any option but to go to Mumbai. "We don't have any other option than to go to Mumbai. Today is the second day of the padayatra. Nearly 15 lakh people joined the padayatra yesterday. We have to ask some of them to go back to avoid inconvenience...," Patil said on Sunday.
He added that on January 25 and 26, Mumbai will be filled with Maratha people, and they will not retreat without securing reservations. "...but one thing is sure, on January 25 evening and January 26, Mumbai will be full of Maratha people, and the whole of Mumbai will become Bhagva (saffron). Our community will go in full strength. One thing is sure we will not back from here without taking reservations at whatever cost... we will not take our step back," Patil said, as reported by news agency ANI.