As Jarange’s hunger strike enters eighth day, supporters block h’way & set tehsildar’s chair afire

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange's supporters on Tuesday resorted to various agitations to protest against state govt's failure in responding to his indefinite hunger strike. Besides, state transport services from Beed district have been suspended till further notice.
As Jarange's hunger strike entered eighth day, women members from the Maratha community blocked the Dhule-Solapur highway to show their support to the activist.A village sarpanch set the chair of Phulambri tehsildar afire after bringing it out of the office to draw govt's attention to the activist's fast deteriorating health.
Hordes of Jarange's supporters continued to reach Antarwali Sarati even on Tuesday, requesting the activist to call off the hunger strike. The medical team deployed at the site said Jarange's blood pressure and sugar levels had dropped. District officials also requested the supporters to convince the activist to take treatment, but in vain.
Police have registered a case against Gevrai Payga village sarpanch Mangesh Sable, along with his accomplices, for setting the chair of Phulambri tehsildar afire. The video of his act has gone viral on social media. Interestingly, Sable had contested the general election as an independent from the Jalna constituency and bagged about 1.56 lakh votes.
Later in the day, a group of supporters from Parbhani, while heading to Antarwali Sarati, were stopped at Wadigodri, where OBC activists Laxman Hake and Navnath Waghmare are observing an indefinite hunger strike. This resulted in a fresh face-off between Maratha and OBC supporters, following which the police intervened to diffuse the situation.
Hake said, "Jarange has been making an unconstitutional demand because of his lack of understanding of the reservation issue. The Maratha community will not benefit even if they get quota under the OBC category. It is unfortunate that chief minister Eknath Shinde, instead of acting as a neutral and impartial person, is openly siding with the Marathas."
He also criticised Rajratan Ambedkar, the grandson of Babasaheb Ambedkar, and NCP founder Sharad Pawar for backing Jarange's demands.