Fadnavis reaches out to Maratha leaders to defuse tension before August 9 protest

A worried Maharashtra government on Thursday met some ‘eminent personalities’ from the Maratha community, drawn from various fields, in a bid to get them to appeal to the agitating Marathas to protest peacefully.

The Maratha community has called for a ‘bandh’ on August 9, and there are fears that it could lead to violence. The state government had sent out invites to prominent actors, industrialists and artistes from the community to meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for a briefing on the government’s initiatives for the welfare of the community and the progress of the reservation status which the Marathas have been demanding.

The state government reached out to these people because the Sakal Maratha Samaj, an umbrella body comprising all the Maratha outfits, has rejected any dialogue with the government and has also dissuaded others from attending any meeting. Some top personalities from the state also didn’t attend Thursday’s meeting with the Chief Minister.


Fadnavis told those who attended the meet that the delay in giving reservations to the Maratha community was because the state wanted to ensure that the reservations were not quashed by the Bombay High Court, as it had done in the past.