Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 31: The Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde has called an all-party meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss the situation as the agitation demanding reservation for Marathas took a violent turn on Tuesday and spread to newer areas.
A curfew has been clamped in the Dharashiv and Beed districts after the agitation turned violent and protesters indulged in arson and vandalism to target the residences of two NCP MLAs and a municipal council building.
Bus services of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) in five districts – Parbhani, Dharashiv, Latur, Jalna and Nanded districts – have been suspended completely for the next 3-4 days after the agitators damaged dozens of buses parked in a major bus depot in Beed on Monday evening. Internet services have been suspended in Beed, Dharashiv, and Jalna areas as a precaution after the violence.
Two MPs and one MLA of the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena have resigned from their posts in support of the demand for quota for Marathas causing problems for the government.
Mr Shinde on Tuesday assured Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, who is on an indefinite fast demanding Maratha quota, that the state government was committed to ensuring reservation for the Maratha community and asked him to discontinue his fast and appeal for peace.
Mr Jarange, however, said on Tuesday that the Maratha community would not accept an “incomplete reservation” and the Maharashtra government should call a special session of the state legislature on the issue. The activist also threatened to stop drinking water from Wednesday evening if the “complete” quota was not granted to the Maratha community, said the government should not “trouble” Maratha youths who are protesting peacefully or else a firm response would be given.
The Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said authorities have identified 50 to 55 people who were involved in violent activities in various parts of the state, and asserted culprits will face strict action.
Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, said agitators who tried to burn down a house in Beed district with family members inside will face attempt to murder charges. “The state government has identified 50 to 55 people involved in the violent incidents in the last few days. They attacked houses of certain people and members of certain community. Houses of some MLAs were torched and hotels as well as some institutions were also targeted. It is absolutely wrong,” Fadnavis said.
Mr Shinde who called on the governor Ramesh Bais at the Raj-Bhavan on Tuesday to brief him about the situation and security measures being taken to curb the chaos, will apprise opposition leaders of the government’s plans to handle the situation and seek their support, said an official in the Chief Minister’s Office.
In a televised message appealing for peace, the chief minister said, “Our government is trying to maintain law & order in the state…The government is paying full attention to those who are trying to instigate and disrupt the law and order in the state. It is the government’s duty to give Maratha quota.” The Chief Minister called Jarange over the phone and assured a concrete decision on reservation for the Maratha community during the state cabinet’s meeting.
The Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC) has suspended its bus services to Maharashtra after one of its buses was set on fire by protesters at Omerga in the state during the ongoing agitation for the Maratha reservation.
Several opposition leaders, including Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, have demanded the Centre to resolve the issue of Maratha reservation by calling a special session of Parliament. Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, he demanded that the Maratha and Dhangar communities should also get reservation.
Thackeray has said if the need arises, Union ministers from the state should resign in protest. Attacking Shinde, Thackeray asked what he was doing since the last one-and-a-half years and said the state government cannot shirk away from its responsibility. “This issue should be addressed by the Centre. This can only be resolved in the Lok Sabha. I have been saying this and I say it again that the government should call a special session of Parliament (to resolve the issue),” Thackeray said.
The police on Tuesday stepped up security at the Mantralaya, the residences of the chief minister, ministers and other politicians. Jarange also urged for a special assembly session to declare reservations for the Maratha community.
Pro-Maratha quota protesters have blocked the Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway in Pune city and burnt tyres. Later, traffic movement was partially restored on the Pune-Bengaluru highway near Navale bridge.
The Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM) on Tuesday denied that it has given a call for a Pune bandh and said it has asked the community to hold agitations peacefully and not resort to any extreme steps. Police have registered an FIR against several people for vandalising the office of BJP MLA Prashant Bamb in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Meanwhile, MNS president Raj Thackeray has also urged Jarange to call off his indefinite hunger strike and also demanded that a special session of the Maharashtra legislature be convened to discuss the quota issue. In a letter to Jarange, he said those who could not get the benefits of reservation should get them, and reservation should be on the basis of economic condition.