Maratha Reservation: The ongoing agitation demanding reservation for the Maratha community was captured by violence and arson on Monday. The protesters set fire to the house of NCP MLA Prakash Solanki and pelted stones at it, torched a municipal building and vandalized the office of another MLA. Police gave this information. The incidents of violence took place in Beed and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar districts of central Maharashtra. On the other hand, Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange is continuing his fast unto death in a village in Jalna district in support of the demand for reservation.
Arson at MLA’s residence
Police said that the residence of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Solanki, located in Majalgaon town of Beed district, was set on fire and a group of protesters also pelted stones at it. The group also handed over a car parked in Solanki’s residential complex. The incident occurred after an audio clip of the MLA was circulated on social media. In the clip, the NCP MLA had allegedly spoken about the Maratha reservation movement and made indirect comments on Jarange who was on a fast unto death. It is not yet clear whether the Majalgaon MLA, who belongs to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s NCP camp, was inside the residence at the time of the incident that occurred around 11 am.
Ruckus after an audio clip of Solanki went viral
News agency PTI reported that this incident happened after an audio clip of MLA Solanki regarding Maratha reservation went viral. A bandh was called at the local level. The MLA’s residence and a car were set on fire by some people and pelted stones. In the audio ‘clip’, Solanki can be heard saying that the issue (demand for reservation and the 40-day deadline given to the government to implement it) has become child’s play. Taking a dig at Jarange, he said that the person, who has not even contested Gram Panchayat elections, has today become a smart person. Meanwhile, Solanki told a news channel that he was in Majalgaon at the time of the incident.
pelted stones at the house
The MLA said that the agitators surrounded my residence from all sides and no one was ready to listen. My house was pelted with stones and vehicles were also set on fire. I stand with the demand for Maratha reservation. I have won elections four times with the support of the Maratha community and I am a Maratha MLA. After the arson at the MLA’s residence, the group of Maratha reservation activists dispersed from there and later set fire to the first floor of the Majalgaon Municipal Council building and vandalized it. The group, armed with sticks and stones, first broke the glass windows of the building.
Arson in Prakash Solanki’s house
The officer said that after this the miscreants went to the first floor of the building and set the furniture on fire. He said that fire personnel reached the spot and extinguished the fire. He said that there was no casualty in the incident. Beed Superintendent of Police Nand Kumar Thakur said, “The mob which set fire to Prakash Solanki’s residence later went to the Municipal Council of Majalgaon. They set fire to the first floor of the Municipal Council building. The police team Immediately reached there and evacuated the people. He said, a company of State Reserve Police Force (about 100 personnel) has been demanded to maintain law and order in Beed district.
Police is scanning CCTV
Thakur said that till now protests in support of quota are going on at three to four places in Beed district. He said that the police have started scanning the CCTV footage of the area so that those who set the Municipal Council building on fire can be identified. He said that the process of registering a case in connection with the incident is also underway. In another incident, Maratha reservation supporters armed with sticks vandalized the office of BJP MLA Prashant Bamb at Gangapur in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district, police said.
demand for reservation
He told that the miscreants broke the glass windows of the office of the ruling party MLA. He said that two people have been detained for questioning. Members of the Maratha community are protesting in different parts of the state demanding reservation under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category in government jobs and educational institutions. These incidents of violence and arson have happened at a time when reservation activist Manoj Jarange is on a fast unto death since October 25 in Antarwali Sarati village of Jalna district. He is on fast as part of the second phase of the movement demanding reservation for the Maratha community.