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.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
