Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange has begun travelling from Antarwali Sarati in Jalna district towards Mumbai despite being denied permission to hold a hunger strike at Azad Maidan, setting up a major security and mobility operation across Maharashtra ahead of his planned arrival on September 19.
Jarange, who has been fasting for 17 days over the demand for Other Backward Classes reservation for members of the Maratha community with Kunbi lineage records, left the village with a small convoy instead of the larger mobilisation previously planned. The report said he is travelling with a group of five to 10 associates under heightened security.
Mumbai Police denied permission for a protest at Azad Maidan during the Ganesh festival, citing law-and-order concerns. Jarange has nevertheless maintained that he will proceed to Mumbai. He referred to a Bombay High Court ruling and said the court had not stopped him from protesting in the city. The report did not provide the text of the court order or further details of its directions.
The convoy entered Beed district through a bridge over the Godavari River at around 8.30 pm on Tuesday and received support from residents in Gevrai and Beed city. It later reached Patoda for an overnight halt. Jarange, who appeared physically weak, was seated in the front of a vehicle wearing his customary white shirt and pyjama, according to the report.
The route is expected to pass through Patoda in Beed, Shrigonda in Ahilyanagar, Hadapsar in Pune and Khopoli in Raigad before reaching Azad Maidan. The convoy is expected to cover more than 400 kilometres. Police have strengthened arrangements along the Antarwali Sarati–Shahgarh route and at other sensitive points.
Officials said the security deployment includes three sub-divisional police officers, 10 inspectors, 30 assistant or sub-inspectors, 300 police personnel and 265 home guards. The convoy consists of two sport utility vehicles and two ambulances. Jarange is also being protected by two bodyguards provided by Jalna Police and personnel from the Special Protection Unit of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
The movement places pressure on authorities to manage a long road journey, possible gatherings along the route and access to Mumbai during the festival period. The immediate urban concern is not limited to the proposed protest site: convoy movement through Beed, Ahilyanagar, Pune and Raigad could require traffic diversions, crowd-control measures and coordination between multiple district administrations.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other ministers have repeatedly appealed to Jarange to end his hunger strike. They have said that the government is ready for discussions and will accept demands that are legally valid. Fadnavis also said the government expected that Mumbai residents would not face inconvenience and that the protests would not disrupt Ganesh festival activities in Mumbai and Pune.
Jarange has repeated allegations that there is a conspiracy to kill him, while the report provided no independent evidence for that claim. The next official milestone is the convoy’s planned arrival at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan on September 19, subject to security and administrative arrangements along the route.
