Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, May 14: Activist Manoj Jarange on Tuesday warned that the Maratha quota agitation will be restarted from June 4, the day the results of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections will be out. A rally will be organised on June 8 to press the Maratha community's demand for reservations in government jobs and admissions to educational institutes, he said.

Jarange, who has been heading the agitation since last year, garlanded a statue of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj here to mark the 17th century ruler's birth anniversary. "We want reservation for our kids.....We have been given ten percent reservation (under the economically backward category) which is of no use. This has been proved in the (ongoing) police recruitment," he told reporters afterwards. Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Maratha Community Will Teach Mahayuti Government a Lesson, Says Quota Activist Manoj Jarange

"We will restart the agitation at 9 am on June 4 by holding an indefinite hunger strike. The agitation will take place peacefully," the activist said, adding that he hoped the government will deal with his demands before that. Preparations were in full swing for the rally at Narayangad in Beed district on June 8, he said. Asked about the impact of the Maratha agitation on the Lok Sabha elections, Jarange said, "I was not involved and have not campaigned for anyone. I just said that people should defeat those who were against us."

But "never before" Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held so many campaign rallies in Maharashtra, he said. "He had also never campaigned for different parties contesting on different symbols in the past. But this time he did that. This happened because of four or five state BJP leaders who have hatred for Marathas and other communities," Jarange said. Among BJP leaders, deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Chandrakant Patil hate Marathas, he alleged, adding, "Fadnavis should shed this hatred as we were never against BJP." Beed Lok Sabha Election 2024: Maratha Agitation Cases, Dhangar Quota, Delayed Rail Line Key Issues in Maharashtra

If the government did not grant Kunbi caste certificates to the relatives of the Marathas who have obtained such a certificate, "we will be in the fray for the coming assembly polls," Jarange warned. The agrarian Kunbi community is part of the OBC group in the state.

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