Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil has indicated that he may cancel or halt his march towards Mumbai after his health deteriorated during an indefinite hunger strike, while supporters were told not to follow his convoy in large numbers because of the strain on his body and the potential disruption to the journey.
Jarange made the remarks at around 2am while addressing a large gathering in Patoda in Maharashtra’s Beed district, according to Navbharat Times. He had travelled from Antarwali Sarati in Jalna district as part of his planned mobilisation towards Mumbai. The report said thousands of members of the Maratha community, including women, waited through the night to hear him speak after he reached the venue at about 1.30am.
The report said Jarange appeared physically weak during the address. He said he had been unable to move his hands and legs properly after stopping intravenous fluids on September 12. He is on the 18th day of his hunger strike, according to the report.
Jarange told supporters that if they continued to travel behind him in a convoy of vehicles, he could stop the journey. He said he might either begin a protest locally in Patoda or return to Antarwali Sarati. He also asked supporters to meet him directly in Khopoli rather than follow his vehicle from Patoda. If his health allowed, he said he would prefer to travel directly to Mumbai after speaking with the police, rather than move with a large crowd.
The mobilisation has an immediate bearing on police deployment, traffic management and the handling of public gatherings in Mumbai. The report said permission had not been granted for Jarange’s proposed hunger strike at Azad Maidan, a central protest location in the city. It did not provide a separate response from Mumbai Police on the permission issue or on arrangements for the proposed march.
During his address, Jarange said the physical effects of the agitation had increased but maintained that he was fighting for the reservation demands of children in his community. He alleged that the government wanted him to surrender and said his community was more powerful than any government. These remarks were made during the speech and were not independently verified in the report.
Jarange also claimed that 5.8 million old records had been found and that these could create a pathway for reservation benefits for about 25 million members of the community. He said the immediate objective was to secure a government gazette and added that all documents related to the issue had been stored on a pen drive. The report did not include the documents or an independent government confirmation of these figures and claims.
He also accused Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of conspiring to take his life and criticised the government’s arguments concerning fruit orchards in western Maharashtra and reservation benefits available to Other Backward Classes. These allegations were reported as statements made by Jarange during the address; the source did not carry a response from the chief minister or the state government.
The next development will depend on Jarange’s health, whether he continues towards Mumbai and how police authorities respond to the proposed gathering and protest venue. For now, the activist has signalled that the march could be stopped or redirected if his physical condition worsens or if supporters continue to travel with him in large numbers.
