With the Maharashtra assembly polls just around the corner, leaders across party lines have been making a beeline to meet Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, who was little known till last year, to garner support or ensure an election ticket for themselves.
Jarange shot to fame in September last year with his agitation to press for reservation to Marathas under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
Since then, he has staged at least half-a-dozen hunger strikes at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district of Marathwada region, putting the spotlight on him.
The Maratha quota demand, an issue which hurt the Mahayuti in the Lok Sabha polls, continues to resonate with a significant voter base, according to analysts.
Jarange has said the government should fulfil the demands of the Maratha community or face consequences in the state assembly elections, to be held on November 20.
Despite his strong comments against the government and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, several leaders and poll aspirants across party lines have met him in the recent past, with many even lending support to his agitation.
According to a political analyst, the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections pose a significant challenge due to splits in the Shiv Sena and NCP.
"With the BJP-led NDA and Congress-led MVA comprising three prominent parties each, the likelihood of contenders securing tickets from a specific constituency decreases if it is already represented by another alliance member. This situation increases the risk of rebellion," the analyst said.
The poll aspirants who feel threatened are seeking to garner sympathy from their voters by meeting influential leaders like Jarange in the Marathwada region, political observer Abhay Deshpande said.
If there is a higher likelihood of rebellion, it could result in division of votes and reduce the winning margins, he opined.
"In such a scenario, consolidating all the small factors becomes essential. The meetings of MLAs and aspiring candidates with Jarange could be viewed as one of these attempts," Deshpande added.
In the 2019 parliamentary elections, the BJP won all the Lok Sabha seats in Marathwada region.
But in the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year, the Marathwada region, ground zero of Maratha protests steered by Jarange, witnessed a significant division of votes, a factor believed to have contributed in the narrow defeat of OBC leader of BJP, Pankaja Munde, from Beed.
Notably, Ramesh Pokale, state vice president of the BJP Kisan Morcha, met Jarange in August with an eye on the assembly polls.
Maharashtra Industries Minister Uday Samant, considered close to Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, also met Jarange at Antarwali Sarati recently.
The next day, Jarange asked the state government to take concrete steps to provide reservation to the Maratha community.
AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel on Tuesday met Jarange and hinted at allying with the Maratha activist for the cause of Marathas and Muslims.
"If people's welfare is involved, anything can happen. Important cards will be played at the right time," Jarange told reporters flanked by Jaleel.
Last month, Maharashtra cabinet minister Abdul Sattar, who belongs to the Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde, also met Jarange.
Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan and party MLA Dheeraj Deshmukh have also separately met Jarange.
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