MUMBAI: Mumbai Police have denied permission for the third time to Maratha quota leader Manoj Jarange Patil to hold a protest at Azad Maidan on September 19, citing law and order concerns during the Ganesh festival.
Jarange Patil said he would not withdraw his protest and was ready to sacrifice his life for the Maratha community.
He left his native village for Mumbai on Tuesday to press the demand for Maratha reservation.
Jarange Patil has been demanding that Marathas be included in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, arguing that Marathas and Kunbis are the same community and Marathas should receive OBC status.
The Maharashtra government has said Marathas with genealogical records linking them to the Kunbi community after 1967 can be included in the Kunbi-OBC category, but not all Marathas can be part of the OBC.
Jarange Patil has applied four times for permission to hold the protest at Azad Maidan. The first three applications were rejected on law and order grounds, while the fourth is under consideration.
After permission was denied, Jarange Patil asked members of the Maratha community not to come to Mumbai, saying he would travel alone and continue with his planned hunger protest.
Reacting to the protest, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the government had accepted 12 of the Maratha community's 13 demands, while one demand was pending before the court.
Fadnavis said the government was positive about the community's demands but did not want law and order issues during the festive season.
He said police had rejected the earlier applications and would decide on the fresh application after examining its merits, adding that maintaining law and order was the responsibility of Mumbai Police.