Cranking up the pressure on the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government over the Maratha quota issue, Shiv Sangram chief Vinayak Mete, an ally of the BJP, has called for a massive protest in Aurangabad on June 26.
Mr. Mete, who had earlier organised a similar demonstration in Beed this month ignoring pandemic norms, warned that the forthcoming protest would not be a ‘silent’ one. He said a massive motorbike rally would be staged in Mumbai on June 27.
“We have started a Statewide tour on behalf of the Maratha Reservation Struggle Committee…We will be visiting every district and holding meetings. We will stage rallies in all districts. This time, there will be no ‘silent rallies’. If our demands are not met by July 5, then we will not allow the monsoon session of the Legislature,” warned Mr. Mete.
He said he had no faith left anymore in Mr. Thackeray’s government over the issue.
“More than 45 days have passed since the Supreme Court had scrapped the Maratha quota law, but the State government has taken no concrete situation to address the near-desperate condition of the Maratha youth, who are simmering with resentment,” Mr. Mete said.
‘Hurried, pretentious gesture’
He claimed that the Chief Minister’s recent visit to Delhi to meet Prime Minister Modi over the issue was nothing but a “hurried, pretentious gesture” which did not translate into anything substantial.
Earlier this month, BJP MP Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati — a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji — had signalled the intensification of the quota agitation by announcing that the first Maratha morcha would commence from Kolhapur district on June 16.
“Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati has good relations with the MVA government leadership and the Chief Minister. Therefore, I urge him to increase the pressure on the State government to resolve the issue,” said Mr. Mete.
