Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange discharged from hospital, says will prepare for Dussehra rally in Beed

Manoj Jarange. File Pic

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange was discharged from a private hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra on Thursday and told reporters he would be preparing for a grand Dussehra rally in Beed, reported the PTI.

Manoj Jarange was in hospital after his health deteriorated following his latest hunger strike in Antarwali Sarati in neighbouring Jalna district of Maharashtra seeking reservation under the Kunbi category for the Maratha community.

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"I will get involved in holding a Dussehra rally in Narayangad in Beed. It will be grand and people from across the state will attend. We will book several halls in Beed for those who come for the rally. The rally is being held on public demand to show our unity. No political inference must be made in this connection," he told reporters, according to the PTI.

Jarange said that he had not taken any decision on fielding candidates for the assembly polls, likely to be held in November, but reiterated that those opposing the Maratha quota stir will "face lifelong loss".

Last month, Jarange had appealed to the people to converge in a show of unity at the Dussehra rally to be held at Narayangad in Maharashtra's Beed district.

Jarange had also said that he will speak at the rally, which would be attended by the Maratha community people and farmers, but there will no politics at the event.

Jarange sat on a hunger strike on September 17, his sixth in a year, to demand reservation to the Maratha community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

He called it off on September 25, citing pleas from members of the Maratha community to withdraw his protest.

"A Dussehra rally will take place in Narayangad where I will go as a devotee and remain present for the programme. I will seek blessings of my community's people who come to Narayangad. Those from Beed and Marathwada and those staying out of station for work purpose should come to Narayangad on Dussehra," Manoj Jarange had earlier said, as per a PTI report.

In February this year, the Maharashtra legislature unanimously passed a bill providing 10 per cent reservation for the Marathas in education and government jobs under a separate category. Jarange, however, stuck to his demand for a Maratha quota for the community under the OBC head.

(with PTI inputs)