BJP vs Jarange: The Maratha Quota Clash Intensifies

The BJP is heading for a confrontation with Manoj Jarange, a Maratha quota leader, who accused BJP of political framing and urged the community to vote against the party. Allegations and rebuttals have ensued, with BJP leaders accepting the electoral challenge and accusing Jarange of working for opposition interests.

The BJP on Wednesday appeared headed for a showdown with Maratha quota leader Manoj Jarange as it accused him of working as a ''proxy'' for Maha Vikas Aghadi after he exhorted the Maratha community to defeat the saffron party candidates in the upcoming polls.

Reacting sharply, BJP leaders said they are picking up the gauntlet thrown by Jarange for the forthcoming electoral contest.

A war of words erupted after the Maratha quota leader accused Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of trying to frame him, drawing a sharp reaction from the ruling BJP.

Jarange had targeted Fadnavis in the past as well. The latest criticism comes a day after a Pune court issued a Non-Bailable Warrant against Jarange in a cheating case.

''We have accepted Manoj Jarange's challenge and will face him on the election battlefield,'' BJP leader Pravin Darekar said, accusing the quota leader of playing into the hands of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, which comprises Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), and Congress.

Accusing Jarange of adopting ''double standards'', Darekar said on ''odd days he distances himself from politics, and on even days, he asks the Maratha community to vote BJP out of power.''

Darekar alleged Jarange's focus is gradually shifting from issues related to the Maratha community to politics.

''Jarange is working as Maha Vikas Aghadi's proxy. He seems to have accepted a contract for carrying out a hit job against the NDA. His focus is politics rather than social issues. He also wants to keep the issue of Maratha reservation alive until the assembly polls so that the unrest would benefit MVA candidates,'' the BJP leader alleged.

Maharashtra assembly polls are due in October this year.

Jarange Wednesday suspended his indefinite fast on the fifth day, claiming pressure from Maratha community members.

Speaking to media persons in Jalna district, he accused Fadnavis of playing low-level power politics by misusing government machinery against opponents.

Conscious of the political cost of angering the Maratha community, the BJP has more or less refrained from severely criticising Jarange even though he had used objectionable language against Fadnavis.

In the recent Lok Sabha elections, sharp caste divisions between Marathas and OBCs are believed to have impacted the BJP adversely, at least in the Marathwada region, the ground zero of the Maratha stir.