PUNE: Different Maratha outfits on Monday staged a protest in Baramati city in Pune district of Maharashtra against the police lathi-charge on quota protesters in Jalna and demanded that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar quit the Shiv Sena-BJP government.
In Pune city, opposition Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar group), and Congress took to the streets in Kothrud area and warned the government not to test the patience of the Maratha community.
In Baramati, members of Maratha outfits raised slogans asking local NCP MLA and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to quit the government.
Slogans were also raised against BJP leader and another Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, who handles the Home Department.
"Fadnavis, who is deputy chief minister in the Eknath Shinde-led government, has failed to make any efforts for Maratha reservation over the last year. Do not test the patience of Marathas," said Ankush Kakade, who belongs to the Sharad Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, during the agitation in Pune city.
He alleged police had received orders to suppress the agitation of Marathas in Jalna district from the state government.
Local leaders of Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) also joined the agitation.
Police baton charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob in Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna district on Friday after protesters allegedly refused to let authorities shift a man on hunger strike for Maratha quota to hospital.
Several persons, including 40 police personnel, were injured and more than 15 state transport buses were set ablaze in violence.
Reservation in jobs and education provided by the Maharashtra government to the Maratha community in 2018 when Fadnavis was chief minister was quashed by the Supreme Court in May 2021, citing the 50 per cent ceiling on total reservations among other grounds.