Advertisement
Beed/Maharashtra: A curfew has been clamped in Maharashtra’s Beed, after the agitation for Maratha reservation intensified on Monday. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) have also been imposed in the area. The growing issue of caste-based reservation in India has sparked another fire in the state of Maharashtra.
The development came after homes belonging to two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs were set on fire, and the office of another legislator from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was vandalised by protestors.
The ongoing agitation demanding reservation for the Maratha community turned violent on Monday with protesters resorting to arson and vandalism in various parts of Maharashtra. According to sources, the protesters targeted the houses and offices of three Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), while also attacked a Municipal Council building and disrupted road traffic.
According to police, no casualties or injuries have been reported so far.
Earlier in the day, another NCP MLA Prakash Solanke in Beed district was also ransacked and set on fire by agitators. Solanke belongs to the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction. Former minister Jaydattaji Kshirsagar’s office was also set ablaze in Beed. He is a member of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction. Police swiftly intervened to disperse the crowd that had gathered outside the MLA’s residence and office.
An NCP office, operated by the Sharad Pawar-led faction was also torched earlier today. To maintain law and order, a company of the State Reserve Police Force, consisting of about 100 personnel, was deployed in Beed district. Pro-quota protests were taking place at many places in the district.
The agitators also expressed their anger by tarnishing posters of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in Vadgaon Nimbalkar village.
Maratha community members have been holding massive protests in different parts of Maharashtra seeking reservations in government jobs and education under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
The agitation intensified after Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil launched an indefinite fast from October 25 in Jalna district. The activist was on a hunger strike from August 29 to September 14 and called off his agitation after the state government assured to look into his quota demand.
Amidst violence, BJP MLA Laxman Madhavrao Pawar and NCP District President Rajeshwar Chavan resigned from the post today in Beed.
