Mumbai, July 23: A few Maratha agitators from Pune's Pimpri-Chinchwad have been arrested on Monday afternoon ahead of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' scheduled programme. The news agency ANI posted a tweet of the same. As per the information received from the officials, the agitators were planning to create a ruckus at the programme and therefore, as a precautionary measure the police detained them. Besides this, the CM also cancelled the annual pooja at Pandhurpur due to the tensed situation. CM Fadnavis on Sunday, stated that he had cancelled his July 23 (today's) visit to the temple town in view of the safety of lakhs of devotees, who usually gather in large numbers on ashadhi ekadashi.

As per tradition, the CM and his spouse perform the first early-morning pooja of the Vitthal-Rukmini deities, at Vithoba temple. After agitators warned that they would deny the CM's entry into the temple due to the delay in implementing Maratha reservation, the CM has decided to cancel the pooja."The police have tracked messages hinting at conspiracies to spread chaos among the devotees gathered on occasion. While no one can stop me from paying homage to Lord Vitthal, I have decided against going there to safeguard their (devotees) lives,” he said to The Hindu.

Besides this, Fadnavis has also stated that only the Bombay High Court has the power to decide on Maratha reservation and some parties and individuals are deliberately trying to incite the Maratha community against the government despite being aware of the legal aspects of the issue.

Following the cancellation of his visit to the temple, the CM along with his wife and family members performed pooja in his government-owned bungalow Varsha, located at Mumbai's Malabar Hills early morning today.

It is noteworthy that the Maratha protestors, in the past, have held protests in different districts of Maharashtra silently, for which it also received appreciation. However, the protectors are now turning violent. As per earlier reports, the agitators on Saturday torched and damaged around 16 state transport in the Solapur district to show their discontent towards the government. Moreover, the cars of ministers Subhash Deshmukh and Girish Mahajan were also stalled by agitators on Sunday.

What are Maratha Community Demands:

In Maharashtra, the Maratha community demands reservation in education and government services. Predominantly a farmer caste, contributing to more than one-third of the state’s population, the community held its first protest after a girl from their community was brutally raped and murdered at Kopardi in Ahmednagar.

Along with their demand of hanging the rape accused till death, the community wants 16 percent reservation in education and jobs. The Bombay High Court has stayed the decision, which was taken and implemented by the then NCP-Congress rule in the year 2014. As the resolution is sub judice, the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government is now unable to take any decision on same.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 23, 2018 12:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).