PM Should Meet Fasting Activist, Resolve Maratha Quota Issue: Uddhav Thackeray

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi meet Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange and resolve the issue of reservation for the community.

Mr Thackeray was speaking to reporters here, a day after Mr Jarange launched an indefinite fast in Jalna district over the Maratha quota demand.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in his speech at his party's Dussehra rally held in Mumbai on Tuesday vowed to provide reservation to the Maratha community by bowing before the bust of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on the dais.

Taking a dig at chief minister Shinde, Mr Thackeray said making a vow and then resorting to delaying tactics was not a way out.

"The government should tell the Maratha quota protesters what is the way out. Why isn't the government not resolving the issue if there is a way out?" Thackeray asked.

"I welcome the Prime Minister, but he should meet Mr Jarange and resolve the issue of granting reservation to the Maratha community," the former Maharashtra CM said.

PM Modi was on a visit to Shirdi in Maharashtra on Thursday. He performed puja at the revered Shri Saibaba Samadhi Temple in Shirdi and offered prayers. He later performed the 'Jal Pujan' of Nilwande dam, located in Ahmednagar district, and inaugurated the dam's left bank canal network.

Mr Jarange, who has become the face of the Maratha quota agitation, launched his hunger strike at his native Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district on Wednesday as the 40-day deadline he had set before the Maharashtra government to provide reservation to the community came to an end on October 24.

Expressing disappointment over the state government's "failure" to take steps for giving reservation to the Maratha community, the 40-year-old activist said he gave ample time to the government and would not wait any longer.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)