Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) President Prakash Ambedkar. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) president Prakash Ambedkar on Wednesday exhorted Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil to contest as an Independent from Jalna in the upcoming Lok Sabha election even as the activist’s health deteriorated on the fifth day of his hunger strike.
Mr. Jarange-Patil launched yet another hunger fast since February 10 to protest against the government’s failure in granting other backward class (OBC) Kunbi caste certificates to blood relatives of Marathas whose records proved them as Kunbis.
The activist was reportedly bleeding from the nose owing to his fast, said the government doctor who visited him for a routine check. Mr. Jarange-Patil was intravenously administered medicines following the decline in his health.
Meanwhile, speaking in Mumbai, Mr. Ambedkar said there was no point in Mr. Jarange-Patil giving up his body in his fight for the Maratha quota and that he instead ought to contest the election to make his voice heard in Parliament.
“We have conveyed there is no point in him sacrificing his body in this fight. The purpose of creating awareness about the quota through fasting has already been achieved. Now, Jarange Patil should contest the Lok Sabha elections from Jalna independently without any support from any party in order to raise the issues of poor Marathas in the Parliament,” said Mr. Ambedkar.
At the same time, Mr. Ambedkar said that the VBA maintained that Maratha reservation could not be granted by eating into the OBC reservation pie.
“The Maratha community cannot be given reservation by being included under the OBC category. If that happens, their reservation will not be a lasting one. The economically poor Marathas should be given a separate quota, different form the present OBC reservation. Manoj Jarange Patil should announce his candidature from Jalna Lok Sabha Constituency to press the community’s demands. We are sure he will be elected,” said Mr. Ambedkar.
