Minutes after a state government delegation met him in hospital on Saturday morning and handed him a copy of the government resolution (GR), which widens the jurisdiction of the Shinde Committee to cover the whole state, activist Manoj Jarange Patil, while terming it as a step in the right direction, said that till the time the entire Maratha community is given reservation, doubts will continue to linger in their minds.
“The state government’s move to include entire Maharashtra in the jurisdiction of the Shinde Committee is a historic one. I don’t think such a thing has happened in the past,” Patil told The Indian Express during a brief conversation at the private hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, where he was admitted on Thursday after he ended his fast demanding reservation for the Maratha community.
Speaking in a feeble voice from his hospital bed, unlike his aggressive tone during his fast-unto-death, Patil emphasised that though the government had moved fast, only the act of ensuring reservation for the entire Maratha community will remove all doubts about the government’s intention and actions.
On Saturday morning, a government delegation led by Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar District Guardian Minister Sandeepan Bhumre that also included Jalna District Guardian Minister Atul Save met Patil in the hospital and handed over a copy of the GR passed on Friday night. Bhumre read the GR, which expands the jurisdiction of the Shinde Committee to include entire Maharashtra instead of being restricted only to Marathwada.
Win-win situation
With the state government expanding the scope of the Justice Sandeep Shinde Committee to include all districts of Maharashtra — the panel’s earlier jurisdiction limited its work only to Marathwada — Manoj Jarange Patil has won the first round in a hard-fought battle to get quota for the Maratha community. The state government too can breathe easy as it gets time and opportunity to get more Marathas under OBC category by issuing them Kunbi certificates.
Patil, speaking to The Indian Express, said chain hunger strikes by the Maratha community will continue. “No, we have not withdrawn the chain hunger strikes. They will continue in all villages,” he said. To a question whether he was targeting Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as alleged by BJP leaders, he said, “I have nothing to do with politics, but yes, if someone says something against us, then we will hit back. The subject no more exists for me… I don’t want to discuss anything about it.”
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Asked whether he was impressed by the delegation’s promise which made him withdraw his fast, Patil said, “We have given the Shinde Committee two more months to complete its work… I can’t say anything more.”
On whether he was firm on his deadline of December 24, he said, “I have given them the time-limit. The deadline is December 24. The delegation will vouch for it.”
Meanwhile, NCP leader Prakash Solanke, whose house and vehicles were torched by agitators in Beed district, also met Patil in the hospital, and conceded that he erred while speaking to a caller on the phone about the issue. He was referring to an audio clip that had gone viral.