Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Government

Jarange ends 20-day fast, warns Maharashtra government

Manoj Jarange ended his 20-day fast on September 17.

He gave the Maharashtra government three months to act.

He wants gazette records recognised to prove Kunbi lineage.

A delegation of ministers met him at Patoda.

He warned of going to Mumbai if betrayed.

Jarange warned that if the community is betrayed in the next three months, supporters will go directly to Mumbai along with their families.

He had begun a march from Jalna on September 15 and had planned to reach Mumbai’s Azad Maidan for an indefinite hunger strike.

His health deteriorated on the second day of the march, and he was given saline before the talks led to the fast being called off.

The Maratha reservation agitation has been a long-running issue in Maharashtra, with several rounds of protests and hunger strikes led by Jarange.

The three-month deadline would fall in mid-December 2026.

The Hyderabad, Satara and Aundh gazettes are historical administrative records from the former Hyderabad, Satara and Aundh administrations.

Manoj Jarange ended his 20-day fast on September 17, 2026, at Patoda in Beed district of Maharashtra.

He did so after talks with a Maharashtra government delegation and gave the government a three-month ultimatum to act on his demands.

The delegation included ministers Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Dadaji Bhuse, MLC Prasad Lad, MLA Suresh Dhas, the Beed District Collector and other officials.

His main demand is official recognition of historical administrative records, including the Hyderabad Gazette, the Satara Gazette and the Aundh Gazette.

Such records are used to help Marathas prove Kunbi lineage and claim reservation benefits under the Other Backward Classes category.

Jarange said the government should give it in writing that not a single Kunbi record will be ignored.

Minister Vikhe Patil said processing the gazette documentation would take around three to four months after a review by the advocate general.

Azad Maidan, Mumbai (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

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