Maha govt will face wrath of Marathas, warns Jarange-Patil

Jalna (Maharashtra), March 16 (IANS) Just ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule, Shivba Sanghatana leader, Manoj Jarange-Patil on Saturday warned that the Maharashtra government would face the wrath of the Marathas in the parliamentary polls.

Speaking to the media in Jalna, he said if justice was not given to the Marathas in the name of the Model Code of Conduct that would come into force soon after the poll dates are announced then the Maharashtra government would face the long-term repercussions of its actions.

“The government has still not fulfilled its promises of withdrawing cases against the Maratha men and women… The draft on ‘Sage-Soyare’ (family bloodline) has not yet been notified. If you don’t decide now, then the Marathas will take the decision,” he said in a grim warning.

He said that the previous rulers had concern for the cause of the Marathas, but the present regime is not bothered about the community and it is being blatantly ignored.

“If Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis do not want to face the wave of displeasure of the community, then they must immediately implement all the promises made to the Marathas,” demanded Jarange-Patil.

He reminded the government that the Marathas had been protesting for over seven months since August and cautioned against humiliating them more “or they can turn the tide against you.”

Meanwhile, following a call by Jarange-Patil for candidates from five villages to file their nominations, members of the Maratha community are likely to contest the Lok Sabha elections in large numbers.

This could upset the political calculations of the two major contending alliances – the ruling Mahayuti of the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP(AP) and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT)-NCP(SP) and their Maratha candidates.