Clash of the Chieftains

Whether it is the Maratha reservation quota or farmers' issues, the real test in this election will be the political survival for the many stalwarts of the state

- Satish Padmanabhan

MARATHA reservation quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil is the antithesis of the conventional idea of a Maratha-of robust build, booming voice and bellicose by nature. Patil is diminutive, weighs 42 kg and speaks softly. But there is steel in his eyes and he has the quiet confidence of a person who has massive grassroot support. We meet him at Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna district, in the compound outside the house where he began his agitation in August last year. A statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji is placed prominently to which he bows before talking to us.

Patil and his supporters have been agitating for reservations for the Marathas in government jobs and educational institutions. Broadly, this is their demand: the farmer community within the Marathas, called the Kunbis, already enjoys reservation under the OBC (Other Backward Community) quota. Patil wants this to be extended to all Marathas, estimated to be 35 per cent of Maharashtra's population. Though he has been involved in the agitation for the Maratha quota for 15 years, he made headlines when he went on a hunger strike in February this year. The 17-day fast ended when Chief Minister Eknath Shinde assured Patil he would look into their demands.

Maratha reservation is a major issue in these elections in Maharashtra. Though Patil insists he is not against any particular party or alliance, the Shinde-Fadnavis government is certainly concerned. "I am not going to support any party.

The government has deceived us but we will not ask anyone to vote for any particular party. I can't say what will happen in the elections, but you must have noticed that Modiji is doing more rallies in Maharashtra now," he says, pointing to how seriously the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is taking his agitation.