'Maratha Kranti Morcha apolitical'

Mumbai: Maratha Kranti Morcha leader Abasaheb Patil opposed the idea of the group forming a political party and said that att-empts on those lines are made with personal benefits in mind and not the good of the community.

He said that the Mar-atha Kranti Morcha wou-ld remain a movement of the community and it would keep fighting for reservation in jobs and education, among other things. Mr Patil recently led an agitation in Parli, Beed.  

Talking to the media in Mumbai on Tuesday, Mr Patil categorically said that the Maratha Kranti Morcha was and will continue to be a movement and politics is not its aim.

“It was like the Maratha community woke up to the problems impeding its development in 2016. Since then, many political parties have supported it as well as participated in the morcha. But that was support. Nobody from the community spoke about politics. So, it should be taken as a movement only,” said Mr Abasaheb Patil.

A few members of the Maratha community have decided to form a party named the Sakal Maratha Samaj Paksha, which, they claim, represents the community. Suresh Patil from Kolhapur, who has been one of the conveners of the Maratha Kranti Morcha, had taken the initiative to form the pa-rty. However, Mr Abasa-heb Patil’s opposition to politicising the movement proves that cracks are appearing in Maratha unity.  “We appeal to the people not to the use the name of the Maratha community for political benefits. Political parties operate for their own benefit and not for the community. If you want to be an MP or MLA, go ahead but don’t use the movement’s name for this,” said Mr Abasaheb Patil.