After breathing fire for a year, Maratha leader Jarange-Patil backs out of Maha polls

After more than a year of threats, Shivba Sanghatana leader Manoj Jarange-Patil suddenly decided to withdraw from the crucial November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections, but vowed to continue his agitation for Maratha quotas, here on Monday.

The Maratha leader who has been leading the reservation campaign punctuated by half-a-dozen hunger strikes, scores of processions and public rallies - made the announcement at his Antarvali-Sarati village before a large number of his supporters, evoking sighs of relief among all the political parties in the state.

“We cannot fight or win elections depending on the name of any one community. We have decided to opt out of the Assembly elections. I have directed all my supporters to take back their nomination forms today,” declared Jarange-Patil firmly, on the final day of withdrawal of candidatures.

The frail Maratha leader said that the Marathas and other allies held talks till 3.30 A.M. and finally decided not to field any candidates, though he termed it not as a retreat, but a ‘battle strategy’.

Jarange-Patil also admitted that his other allies, comprising a motley group of Muslims, Dhangar and other marginalised communities did not submit their lists of candidates, as another reason for his unexpected retreat.

“We shall not put up our candidates… We are not dictating whom to vote for or against from either the (ruling) Mahayuti or the (Opposition) Maha Vikas Aghadi alliances, nor are we endorsing any Independent candidates or any other parties. The people will decide to back those who support our interests,” said Jarange-Patil adopting a clear stance.

It may be recalled that since August 2023, the Shivba Sanghatana leader has repeatedly threatened to jump into the electoral fray, warning of vanquishing candidates of both Mahayuti-MVA who allegedly did not take steps to implement Maratha quotas.

At one point in his quotas crusade, a confident Jarange-Patil had proclaimed that his supporters would “either take out my victory march or my funeral procession”, rattling all political parties.

The Mahayuti (Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-Nationalist Congress Party) and MVA (Nationalist Congress Party-SP, Shiv Sena-UBT, Congress) – seemed worried, earlier during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and later ahead of the Assembly elections.

Later, he attempted to cobble up alliances with other like-minded parties/groups like the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi of Prakash Ambedkar, several Muslim and Dhangar outfits, vowed to put up candidates in all the 288 Assembly seats and ensure the defeat of all the Mahayuti-MVA candidates.

Jarange-Patil had launched a campaign against the Mahayuti on various grounds and singled out the BJP’s Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, besides hammering at the OBC leader and NCP Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and others opposing inclusion of the Marathas into the OBC quotas.

The MVA’s top leaders like Sharad Pawar, Nana F. Patole, Uddhav Thackeray and others had repeatedly said that the state government was misleading Jarange-Patil on the Maratha reservations issue, as it could be done only by the Centre in view of the 50 per cent ceiling on quotas.

Jarange-Patil’s move to keep out of the state Assembly polls was greeted with early positive reactions from Raut and BJP’s Pravin Darekar besides several prominent Maratha bigwigs.