Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil has announced his withdrawal from the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. Initially, he had declared his intention to contest from 13 constituencies, but he has now decided against running for office, urging members of the Maratha community who submitted nomination papers to withdraw their applications as well.
In his announcement made on Monday, Jarange Patil emphasized that he would not field candidates in any constituency due to the absence of a list from his ally parties regarding candidates. He expressed that it is not possible for candidates from the Maratha community to win elections relying solely on one caste. This decision has drawn a response from Sharad Pawar, the founder of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
During a press conference in Mumbai, Pawar commented on Jarange's decision, saying, “This decision is his own, and I am happy that he has made it. The only reason for my happiness is that he has consistently stated that the BJP is our opponent. If he had fielded candidates, it would have benefited the BJP. Given this backdrop, his decision is correct.”
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Jarange Patil elaborated that discussions had been held with members of the Maratha community, and he had a list of candidates ready at 3:30 AM the previous night. However, the ally parties failed to provide their list, making it impractical to contest elections based solely on one caste. He acknowledged that they have only been observing politics for about 13-14 months, hence the decision not to participate in the elections.
He also noted that both Mahavikas Aghadi and Mahayuti leaders are essentially the same and clarified that he is not supporting anyone or urging the election of any candidate. Instead, he emphasized that his movement for the Maratha community will continue.