Maratha protestors set a State transport bus on fire at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk in Tirthpuri city, Ambad taluka, an official said on February 26. Consequently, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has filed a police complaint and suspended bus services in Jalna until further notice.
“Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation has stopped ferrying its buses in Jalna till further notice. A police complaint has been filed by MSRTC’s Ambad Depot Manager in a local police station after a bus was allegedly torched by Maratha Agitators,” MSRTC said.
The Maratha community has been protesting against the State Government on the issue of the Maratha reservation for several years. The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (lower house) unanimously passed the Maratha Reservation Bill tabled in February, which intended to extend 10 per cent reservation to Marathas above the 50 per cent cap.
Refusing to call off his hunger strike even after the adoption of the quota bill in the Assembly on February 20, Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil demanded that the NDA Government implement the ‘Sage Soyare’ ordinance notification within two days, failing which the majority community in the state will launch a fresh round of agitation on February 24.
Patil, who has been at the front and centre of the protests demanding reservation for Marathas in Government jobs and education, said the Bill guaranteeing 10 per cent reservation for the community falls short of fulfilling their demands.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashok Chavan questioned the need for continuing the agitation even when all his demands have been fulfilled. “He (Manoj Jarange Patil) knows why he is agitating? What we are saying is that when the Government has fulfilled all his demands by bringing this law, then there is no need for agitation,” Chavan said.
(with inputs from ANI)
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