Manoj Jarange Patil stops water and saline on eighth day of fast over Maratha quota demands

Mumbai: Putting further pressure on the Maharashtra government to act on his demands, Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil has stopped taking water and his intravenous drip (saline) as he enters the eighth day of his fast.

Jarange Patil is fasting at Antarvali Sarati village in Jalna, seeking Kunbi caste certificates for the Marathwada's Maratha community, which would make them eligible for OBC reservations.

Late on Friday night, Jarange Patil decided to stop taking saline and water, angry that the two-day deadline he had given the government to issue a Government Resolution (order) on Maratha quotas was not adhered to.


Upping the ante, the Maratha leader also refused to let doctors at the protest site examine him. Turning the doctors away, Jarange Patil said, "I will not take anything and will not undergo any treatment, until the government begins implementing all our demands and starts taking action on the ground."

Jarange Patil, who was on a fast, began taking water and had taken saline after BJP MLC Prasad Lad, considered to be close to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, visited him last week and promised him to start taking water and saline while assuring him that his demands would soon be implemented.

Patil claims that the government delegation, including Prasad Lad, had assured him last week that after verification, 58 lakh Kunbi caste certificates as per the Hyderabad Gazette would immediately be given. "They had promised me that they would begin issuing 58 lakh caste certificates and would, at the village level, invite Maratha applicants to apply for the caste certificate, but there has been no progress on it," he said.

Jarange Patil has warned that after September 12, thousands of Maratha protesters would enter Mumbai to begin their protest.