Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A curfew has been imposed in Ambad taluka of Maharashtra's Jalna district in a bid to avoid a possible law and order situation in view of the ongoing agitation for Maratha reservation led Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange. An order has been issued to this effect by the district administration.
Patil is staging a hunger strike to demand reservation for the Maratha community under the OBC category while rejecting the 10 percent reservation for the community announced by the Eknath Shinde led coalition government during a special assembly session on Feb 20. In the said order over the curfew, Jalna Collector Srikrushna Panchal referred to Jarange's announcement on Sunday that he will go to Mumbai and agitate over his demand of reservation for the Maratha community.
The order said that there is a possibility that people may come to Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna, where the activist has been staging a hunger strike, to stop him (from going to Mumbai). It said that due to the huge crowd, there is a possibility that traffic on Dhule-Mumbai highway and other nearby areas may be affected.
“Considering the law and order situation, curfew has been imposed in Ambad taluka from Monday midnight till further orders,” reads the order. However, government offices, schools, movement on national highways, milk distribution, media and hospitals are exempted from this order, the collector said. On Sunday night, Maratha quota activist left from Antarwali Sarati and reached nearby Bhamberi village.
But Jarange returned to Antarwali Sarati and started taking medical treatment on Monday. Patil has accused Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of trying to sabotage the Maratha quota stir and plotting to hill him. The quota row escalated with the agitated Maratha activists setting a State Transport bus on fire at Teerthpuri in Ambad taluka on Sunday Feb 25.
