Maratha quota stir: Protesters pelt stones, attack vehicles on Pune-Nashik highway

Several public properties including six buses were set on fire in Maharashtra's Pune by agitators demanding reservation for Marathas in jobs and education.

After violence in Chakan area of Pune today, orders prohibiting assembly of more than four persons at a place were imposed to restore law and order, Pune district collector Naval Kishor Ram said.

Some Maratha organisations had given a call for a bandh today in Chakan area and a rally was carried out.

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The politically-influential community, constituting around 30 per cent of the state’s population, has been agitating to press their demand for reservation in jobs and education.

Amid the continuing agitation, the Opposition Congress today approached Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, urging him to direct the Devendra Fadnavis government to announce a decision on the reservation issue immediately.

In Chakan, an industrial hub 40 km from the Pune city, protesters indulged in stone-pelting and torched some public transport buses and private vehicles, a senior police officer said.

Meanwhile, a Congress delegation, led by state unit chief Ashok Chavan, met the Governor in Mumbai this afternoon and asked him to instruct the state government to immediately withdraw cases filed against “innocent” agitators during the recent Maratha quota protests. In a memorandum, the party said the government would be to blame if a decision on the quota issue is not announced immediately and if the law and order situation in the state deteriorates.

The delegation, which also included Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, accused the state government of dilly-dallying on the issue. “The position of the BJP and the Shiv Sena over quota is vague. Therefore, no concrete decision has been taken on reservations to Marathas, Muslim, Dhangar, Mahadev Koli and Lingayat communities. The government wants to keep these issues pending,” the memorandum said.

“In such a scenario, we urge you to intervene and instruct the government to declare its decisions regarding reservations of these communities without any delay,” it added. The community had earlier taken out silent marches across the state to highlight their demands, prominent among them being that of reservation. However, their latest round of agitation has taken a violent turn.

(With inputs from PTI)