Maratha quota agitation will resume from June 4, warns Manoj Jarange
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Maha), May 14: Activist Manoj Jarange on Tuesday warned that the Maratha quota agitation will be restarted from June 4, the day the results of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections will be out.
A rally will be organised on June 8 to press the Maratha community's demand for reservations in government jobs and admissions to educational institutes, he said.
Jarange, who has been heading the agitation since last year, garlanded a statue of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj here to mark the 17th century ruler's birth anniversary.
"We want reservation for our kids.....We have been given ten percent reservation (under the economically backward category) which is of no use. This has been proved in the (ongoing) police recruitment," he told reporters afterwards.
"We will restart the agitation at 9 am on June 4 by holding an indefinite hunger strike. The agitation will take place peacefully," the activist said, adding that he hoped the government will deal with his demands before that.
Preparations were in full swing for the rally at Narayangad in Beed district on June 8, he said.
Asked about the impact of the Maratha agitation on the Lok Sabha elections, Jarange said, "I was not involved and have not campaigned for anyone. I just said that people should defeat those who were against us."
But "never before" Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held so many campaign rallies in Maharashtra, he said.
"He had also never campaigned for different parties contesting on different symbols in the past. But this time he did that. This happened because of four or five state BJP leaders who have hatred for Marathas and other communities," Jarange said.
Among BJP leaders, deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Chandrakant Patil hate Marathas, he alleged, adding, "Fadnavis should shed this hatred as we were never against BJP."
If the government did not grant Kunbi caste certificates to the relatives of the Marathas who have obtained such a certificate, "we will be in the fray for the coming assembly polls," Jarange warned.
The agrarian Kunbi community is part of the OBC group in the state.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
NIA registers case to probe recovery of 79 crude bombs in poll-bound West Bengal
New Delhi (PTI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday registered a case to probe recovery of 79 crude bombs in poll-bound West Bengal, officials said.
The move came following a directive by the Union Home Ministry in this regard, they said.
In pursuance to the home ministry's order, the anti-terror agency on Sunday registered a case, which was originally filed at Uttar Kashi police station, Bhangar division, Kolkata on Saturday, and took up the investigation, an NIA spokesperson said in a late night statement.
"The case pertains to recovery of 79 crude bombs and other incriminating materials by Kolkata police, which were being stored at a spot, thereby endangering human life and property," the spokesperson said.
Earlier in the day, the Election Commission had directed the West Bengal Police to launch a special drive to arrest those involved in illegal manufacturing of crude bombs in the poll-bound state, an official said.
It asserted that all cases related to the making of any such explosive would be probed by the National Investigation Agency, the official said.
The directive came after the police recovered a large number of crude bombs from the house of a person, allegedly a TMC worker, at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district, days ahead of the second and final phase of the assembly polls in the state.
The explosives were recovered during a search at the residence of Rafikul Islam following specific inputs, the official said.
The poll panel also issued a warning to senior police officers across the state over any lapse in maintaining law and order before the April 29 polling.
The first phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal was held on April 23, while the second phase will take place on April 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.
A record 93.19 per cent turnout has been recorded in the first round of polling. Bhangar will vote in the second phase.
