Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange has announced that he will start an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan in Mumbai from January 20 to intensify his demand for reservation for the Maratha community, reported PTI.

Reacting to the development, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has appealed to people to exercise restraint. He said that the state government has filed a curative petition on the reservation issue with the Supreme Court, which has been accepted, and the hearing will be on January 24.

Jarange had given the state government time till December 24 to fulfil his demand of reservation for the Maratha community.

Addressing a massive rally in Beed district of Marathwada region on Saturday, Jarange said, “I will start an indefinite hunger strike at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai from January 20. It is difficult to suppress the Marathas. We will not return without getting reservation for the community.”

He said that he will leave his Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district on foot and reach Mumbai and members from the community will also join him.

He also added that “crores” of people from the Maratha community will be a part of the meeting scheduled on January 20.

Asserting that the state government is committed to giving reservation to the Maratha community, he said that the legal team of the state government is making an all-out effort to show the plight of the people from the community, and to prove that the Maratha community is socially and economically backward.

The CM added quota benefits of other groups will remain untouched while giving reservation to the Marathas.

Shinde said the previous Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government had given reservation to the Maratha community, which was upheld by the Bombay High Court. However, it was struck it down by the Supreme Court as the Maha Vikas Aghadi government (led by Uddhav Thackeray) failed to prove its point before the court.

“The observations of the Supreme Court (while striking down the reservation) will be taken into cognisance while gathering empirical data about the Maratha community. This will help in presenting the case before the Supreme Court,” the CM said.

-With PTI inputs