ON THE sixth day of his indefinite hunger, Shivba Sanghatana President Manoj Jarange-Patil suddenly collapsed due to weakness on the stage but was helped by his aides, even as thousands of alarmed villagers rushed there, here on Monday afternoon The unnerving development took place when he got up to reply to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s statements in Mumbai, as the Marathas became more aggressive in different parts of the state for quotas, here on Monday. As he tried to get up Jarange-Patil appeared to feel dizzy and virtually crumpled on the spot but a couple of aides caught him and prevented him from falling. Hundreds of anxious people from his native Ambad village and surroundings who had rushed let out collective shouts, asking him to drink some water, but Jarange-Patil refused. “If you force me to drink water, then how shall we get reservations? We have to ensure the future of our children, it’s not important what happens to me,” he retorted.

 

However, after repeated pleas by the villagers, many in tears, and a teenage girl making a fervent appeal to “Jarange Mama” to drink some water, the Maratha leader conceded and promised to honour their wish later. Lying on the stage propped by two large pillows, Jarange-Patil slammed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, asking: “When you did not discuss the issue with the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) in Shirdi, how can we trust you?” to the CM’s plea to exercise restraint as the pro-quotas agitation was drifting in a different direction with violence, Jarange-Patil shot back saying that the stir is peaceful and “first you should rein in your people”. He also hit out at Shinde’s statement that the State Government was exploring the legal window in the Supreme Court, saying:

 

“We are not concerned with the curative petition… We want automatic reservations”. Jarange-Patil reiterated that all the people whose ‘Kunbi Caste’ certificates have been found and also those whose entries are not yet detected should be given the ‘Kunbi Caste’ certificates and pave the way for quotas immediately. Maratha quota stir: Municipal council building torched; home, office of two MLAs targeted: Violence and arson gripped the ongoing agitation seeking reservation for the Maratha community as pro-quota protesters on Monday set on fire the residence of NCP MLA Prakash Solanke and also hurled stones at it, torched a municipal council building and vandalised the office of another legislator in Maharashtra, police said. The incidents of violence and arson were reported from Beed and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar districts even as Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange continued his indefinite fast in support of the reservation demand at a village in Jalna district. No casualties were reported. The residence of NCP MLA Solanke at Majalgaon town in Beed district was set on fire and stones were hurled at it by a group of quota agitators late in the morning, police said. The group also set ablaze a car parked at the residence of Solanke after an audio clip of the MLA, in which he purportedly spoke about the Maratha quota agitation and made a veiled comment on the fasting quota activist Jarange, went viral. It is not clear whether the Majalgaon MLA, who belongs to the NCP faction led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, was present inside the residence at the time of the incident which occurred at around 11 am. “The incident occurred after an audio clip of MLA Solanke about the Maratha quota issue went viral. A bandh was called locally. The house of the MLA and a car were torched by some people and stones were also hurled,” an official told PTI.