Maratha quota stir turns violent, Jarange-Patil suspects 'govt' role

Jalna (Maharashtra) : With reports of stone-pelting, arson and violence emanating from some parts of Maharashtra, Shivba Sanghatana President Manoj Jarange-Patil on Monday pointed a needle of suspicion at the government, while warning his own supporters to refrain from any violent protests.

"I am monitoring the state closely. If I hear of even one incident of violence, stone-pelting or arson, tomorrow I will announce a different strategy,” said Jarange-Patil in an appeal this evening.

Simultaneously, he pointed a finger at the government, saying some of the ruling party leaders are themselves indulging in such violent activities "to give a bad name to our agitation" and threatened to expose them.

Hitting back, Minister Uday Samant dismissed the contentions and asked why should anybody set fire to their own homes, while calling for peace and restraint as the government was working on the quotas issue.

Since Sunday afternoon, there have been several incidents of violence, allegedly perpetrated by Maratha activists in support of the reservations demand, with the protestors ranting slogan of "Give Us Quotas", "Ek Maratha, Lakh Maratha", and others before going on a violent spree.

On Monday, the office of Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar was attacked and set afire by some unknown persons and later his party MLA Sandeep R. Kshirsagar’s house was also burnt down as the family managed to escape from there in time.

Earlier on Monday, the home, car and a two-wheeler of ruling ally and breakaway Nationalist Congress Party of Ajit Pawar’s Beed MLA Prakash Solanke were pelted with stones and then set afire.

The groups also attacked the Majalgaon Nagar Parishad office, first pelting stones at the three-stories building and then torching it, even as all the government staffers managed to rush out to safety.

Shirdi town in Ahmednagar observed a shutdown while at least nine bus depots in Nande went on a strike without buses being operated, and the Beed-Parli road was blocked with burning tyres. This evening some groups blocked the Dhule-Solapur highway with burning tyres leading to huge traffic snarls in both directions.

In the past 24 hours, more than a dozen public buses and government vehicles were attacked or torched in Beed and other parts of the state. They included the vehicles of 3 tehsildars in Beed district.

At least 4,000 villages in many districts have banned the entry of leaders from all political parties, sparking concerns even as the election season approaches.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde this afternoon called upon Jarange-Patil and other Maratha groups to refrain from violence as they could "lose public sympathy to their cause". Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders like Congress President Nana Patole, NCP Working President Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena-UBT's Sanjay Raut and others have slammed the government for "the breakdown of law and order in the state".

Several leaders also demanded the resignation of Deputy CM and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis accusing him of giving priority to the "election campaign in Chhattisgarh while his own state is burning".