Mumbai: Manoj Jarange-Patil, the poster boy of the Maratha reservation issue, broke his indefinite fast Thursday morning when Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde personally intervened, visiting the Antarwali-Sarati village in Jalna district and offering a glass of juice to the activist.
The two-week deadlock ended with Shinde assuring the activist that the government was committed to providing quota to Marathas in government jobs and education.
After breaking his fast, Jarange-Patil expressed his faith in Shinde. “This is the first time that a chief minister has come to an agitation site to stop someone on a hunger strike. I will not stop unless the Maratha community is given reservation and this is also the policy of CM Shinde,” he said.
Jarange-Patil said Shinde also assured him his demands would be accepted.
Added Shinde, “We are committed to restoring quota for the Maratha community in jobs and education. Marathas are a disciplined and sensitive community.”
Amid all this, both of Shinde’s deputies, Ajit Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were conspicuous by their absence, though the CM was accompanied by Union Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve, Maharashtra ministers Sandipan Bhumre, Uday Samant, Girish Mahajan, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) leader Arjun Khotkar, and NCP MLA Rajesh Tope from the Sharad Pawar faction.
This is a far cry from last year, when Shinde was made the chief minister but Fadnavis, his deputy, was said to be running the government.
Political analyst Hemant Desai told ThePrint that Shinde has taken the centrestage in this episode. “Jarange-Patil has also shown faith in Shinde over the deputies. He had consistently said that they trust only the CM to solve the matter. And especially after the police action, Fadnavis slowly receded into the background,” Desai said.
However, political analyst Prakash Bal sees this as another episode in the ‘cold war’ between Shinde and Fadnavis. “In my opinion, this entire issue (of police action on Maratha quota protesters) was to put Fadnavis in trouble and is another episode in the cold war between Shinde and Fadnavis,” Bal said to ThePrint.
“There was no real reason for him [Fadnavis] to not go to Jalna. He might have realised that and hence kept quiet. Initially, he had sent his trusted aide, Girish Mahajan, to hold talks. But later, Sena leaders like (Sandipan) Bhumre and Arjun Khotkar took matters into their hands,” Bal added.
Shinde at the forefront?
In June 2022, Shinde toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government — which comprised the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the NCP — and became the chief minister with the BJP’s help. However, Fadnavis was widely believed to be running the show.
Weeks later, BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said he wished to see Fadnavis back as the CM.
But things started changing after the Supreme Court, ruling on the tussle between the two Shiv Sena factions, maintained the status quo in the government.
This seemed to embolden the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, evident from a full-page advertisement in newspapers this June citing a survey that more Maharashtrians wanted Shinde as CM than they did Fadnavis, a former CM.
The advertisement, which had “Modi for India, Shinde for Maharashtra” written in bold letters, also declared Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Shinde to be the “dream team loved by all”, and only carried the pictures of the two leaders. That, apparently, triggered the cold war between the CM and Fadnavis.
The current Maratha issue presented another opportunity to Shinde to emerge from Fadnavis’s shadow.
Jarange-Patil began his protest and hunger strike on 29 August. However, the situation got out of hand on 1 September when the police lathi-charged the protesters and forcibly tried to take the activist to hospital. There were protests all across the state, with some even demanding the resignation of Fadnavis, also the state home minister.
While Fadnavis apologised for police action later, he has chosen to remain in the background even as BJP leaders have denied any differences between Shinde and Fadnavis.
“If you are suggesting that there are any differences between Shinde and Fadnavis ji, that is not true,” a senior BJP leader said to ThePrint on the condition of anonymity. “Nobody told Fadnavis to apologise but he did it on his own. No one can direct him to work and function in any manner. But if taking two steps back helps Maharashtra, why not?” he added.
The BJP also maintained that the reason for Fadnavis’ absence Thursday was that he was on a tour in Rajasthan.
“Devendra ji had his Rajasthan tour, that’s why he couldn’t be present. It is only this…Nothing else,” cabinet minister and BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said to ThePrint.
Meanwhile, Shinde is likely to visit Germany along with some ministers to study the operation of highways there, according to the CM’s office. Usually, it is Fadnavis who takes such trips — the latest being a trip to Japan in August-end where he met ministers and delegates to study and bring in various infrastructure projects to the state.
Shinde, the Maratha
Meanwhile, Shinde is reasserting his Maratha roots. Sitting right next to Jarange-Patil this Thursday, Shinde shared an anecdote to reiterate that he is a Maratha himself.
“Last time there was a protest in Satara (over Maratha quota), my father prepared to take part… I asked him where he was headed and he said, ‘Maratha Kranti Morcha’. Such is my attachment to the community,” Shinde said.
This came in the wake of the CM’s viral video from 13 September where he is seen asking his deputies, “We just need to speak and leave, right?”. This was right before a press conference following an all-party meeting on the Maratha quota issue. These remarks drew criticism, with some Opposition leaders claiming the words implied a lack of seriousness or commitment to addressing the issue.
Shinde’s efforts aren’t lost on his party colleagues at least. “The CM is first a karyakarta and on-ground leader. He doesn’t have any ego and went personally to meet a man who was protesting for the community,” said Shiv Sena spokesperson Naresh Mhaske.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
Also read: Maharashtra’s Maratha quota stir puts Fadnavis in a tight spot, CM Shinde attempts damage control