Maratha activist Jarange takes flash U-turn, withdraws from Maha polls

Mumbai: Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil made a U-turn on Monday, announcing that he is not participating in the Maharashtra Assembly polls that are scheduled on November 20. It was only hours before he had said that he would back 10 to 15 candidates in the polls, NDTV reported.

Jarange said that he held discussions and decided that he would only work against those who did not “give justice to Marathas”. He said that after much deliberation, he made the decision to withdraw. The Maratha community should decide on who to elect or not. He has no affiliation or support for any candidate or political party, he said.

He continued that he is under no pressure from anyone, while the community must decide whom to support in their commitment to the Maratha cause. Those who wronged Marathas must be “taught a lesson”.

He said that it is not possible to contest and win an election on the strength of one caste alone. They are new in politics, and if they field a candidate but lose, it will be a shame for the Marathas, he said and added that he requested all Maratha candidates to withdraw their poll nominations.

Earlier, he had announced that he would support candidate challenging MLAs of BJP-led Mahayuti in Marathwada region, which includes Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Beed, Hingoli, Jalna, Latur, Nanded, Osmanabad and Parbhani districts.

The 42-year-old activist had made headlines during his hunger strike demanding reservation benefits for Marathas.

According to NDTV, Jarange’s decision is expected to benefit the Maha Vikas Aghadi of Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP. His withdrawal from the polls is likely to prevent the division of anti-BJP votes since Maratha votes were widely seen as a key factor behind the NDA’s poor show in the state in general elections earlier this year.