NCP MLA's Home Torched, MPs Resign: Key Developments as Maratha Protests Flare

Activist Manoj Jarange Patil blamed the state for planting people to create unrest and tarnish the Maratha movement.

Smoke billows after an office of NCP was set on fire by Maratha reservation agitators, in Beed district, Maharashtra, Monday, 30 October, 2023.

(Photo: PTI)

Residences of MLAs being vandalised, vehicles being torched, lawmakers submitting resignations — Maharashtra continues to be on edge over the issue of reservation to the Maratha community, with protests turning violent in several places and the situation spiralling out of control in Beed and Sambhaji Nagar districts.

Even as the ruling parties - Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - huddle to control the unrest, two MPs of CM Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena have resigned from their posts.

Here are the key developments in the unrest so far:

• Protesters vandalised the residence and set ablaze vehicles belonging to NCP MLA Prakash Solanke of the Ajit Pawar camp in Majalgaon taluka of Beed district. The mob also set the Majalgaon Nagar Parishad office on fire.

Maratha reservation agitators set on fire the residence of NCP MLA Prakash Solanke in Beed, Maharashtra, Monday, 30 October, 2023.

(Photo: PTI)

• A mob also torched the residence of NCP MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar of the Sharad Pawar camp in Beed city. They also set the Beed NCP office ablaze.

Smoke billows after an office of NCP was set on fire by Maratha reservation agitators, in Beed district, Maharashtra, Monday, 30 October, 2023.

(Photo: PTI)

• The district administration imposed a curfew in Bed till further orders in a 5-km radius of the district and taluka headquarters, state highway and national highway. The administration also suspended internet services in the district.

• A mob of protesters also vandalised the office of BJP MLA Prashant Bamb in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar’s Gangapur.

Maratha reservation agitators vandalise the residence of NCP MLA Prakash Solanke in Beed, Maharashtra, Monday, 30 October, 2023.

(Photo: PTI)

• Protests also turned violent on the Dhule-Solhapur highway demonstrators burning tyres and attacking state transport buses, forcing the Maharashtra State and Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to suspend services in 11 districts.

• Shiv Sena's Lok Sabha MP from Nashik, Hemant Godse, and BJP MLA from Gevrai, Laxman Pawar, resigned from their posts supporting the reservation demand. Godse became the second Shiv Sena MP to resign after Hingoli MP Hemant Patil sent his resignation to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday.

• CM Shinde met Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais to apprise him of the situation. Top state BJP leadership also met at Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis' residence to discuss the unrest.

• CM Shinde on Monday said: "As the chief minister, I will not break my promise of giving reservation to Marathas. But the community needs to have patience."

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde addresses a press conference after the Maharashtra Cabinet sub-committee meeting regarding the Maratha reservation, in Mumbai, Monday, 30 October, 2023. State Ministers Chandrakant Patil and Dilip Walse-Patil are also seen.

(Photo: PTI)

• Reacting to the unrest, Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil, who resumed the hunger strike last week, accused the vandals have been planted by the government and claimed that no member of the community will resort to violence.

Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil during a press conference, in Jalna district, Monday, 30 October, 2023.

(Photo: PTI)

• "It is the people in the ruling party, disguising as activists, who are burning homes. Attempts are being made to tarnish the Maratha movement. But, the agitation will continue peacefully. There is no need for violence. Maratha reservation can be achieved even without violence," he said.

• Leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) also met Bais to submit a letter demanding a special Assembly session to discuss the issue.

• Posting on X, Baramati MP and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Supriya Sule urged for peace and said: "The reservation movement is proceeding constructively. Some people are trying to slander it. My humble request to Manoj Jarange Patil is to take care of his health."

• Congress MLA and former CM Ashok Chavan said: "Considering the situation in the state and the sentiments of the Maratha community, the state government needs to take a decision at the earliest. The state government has an army of learned lawyers. The Centre needs to step in to decide on the 50 percent cap on reservation imposed by the Supreme Court and CM Shinde needs to clarify his stand. A special session of the Assembly should be held."