Amid incidents of violence over the Maratha reservation issue in parts of Maharashtra, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday called activist Manoj Jarange over the phone and assured a concrete decision on giving Kunbi certificates to the Maratha community during the state cabinet’s meeting to be held later in the day. Jarange has been on an indefinite hunger strike at his native Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district since October 25 to demand reservation for the Maratha community.

After a “satisfactory” discussion with CM Shinde, Jarange started consuming water during his protest, a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.

Maratha community members have been staging protests in different parts of the state seeking reservation in government jobs and education under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. At some places, quota supporters vandalised and torched the residences of some politicians. A curfew has been imposed in Maharashtra’s Dharashiv district after incidents of violence.

CM Shinde called up Jarange on Tuesday morning and enquired about his health, the CMO statement said.

CM Shinde assured Jarange that he would take a concrete decision regarding issuing Kunbi caste certificates to the Maratha community in the cabinet meeting to be held later in the day, it said.

Shinde also informed Jarange that the state government was prepared to file a curative petition in the Supreme Court over the Maratha reservation issue.

In May 2021, the Supreme Court struck down Maharashtra’s Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2018, which granted reservation to the Maratha community, for violating the 50 per cent quota limit.

The Maratha community, led by Jarange, has been demanding the issuance of Kunbi certificates to Marathas, enabling them to get inclusion in the OBC category for reservation. Kunbis (the community associated with agriculture) are grouped under the OBC category in Maharashtra.

Congress’s Supriya Shrinate has hit out at social media users who have been trolling actor Deepika Padukone for her remarks on open relationship. 

Deepika Padukone and her husband Ranveer Singh featured on the debut episode of Karan Johar’s ‘Koffee With Karan’ Season 8 where the couple spoke about their relationship and the period when Deepika struggled with anxiety and depression.

Deepika said she wasn’t committed to Ranveer and that she was also meeting some other men when they started dating.

“I wanted to be single for a while because I had come from difficult relationships. I was going through a phase where I said ‘I just don’t want to be attached, don’t want to be committed’. And I had fun! And then he comes along, so I didn’t commit, until he proposed to me. There was no ‘commitment as such. Even if we were technically allowed to see other people, we would just keep coming back to each other,” Deepika had said.

Since then, Deepika has been facing a barrage of trolling.

Calling Deepika a “super achiever”, Supriya Shrinate praised the actor for talking about her struggle with mental health, and Ranveer Singh for supporting her.

“A young woman, who is a super achiever talks about her struggles with mental health – she actually emboldens many more to deal with this unspoken demon. A young man, no mean achiever either, talks about how he stood by her when she went through the trauma,” she said on X – formerly known as Twitter.

What have we become?

A couple sits together on a talk show and talks about their relationship, their marriage, their courtship.

A young woman, who is a super achiever talks about her struggles with mental health – she actually emboldens many more to deal with this unspoken… pic.twitter.com/chn0dFTxDG

— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) October 30, 2023

She slammed the trollers for the actor’s character assassination. “Instead of applauding their courage to speak about issues that we brush under the carpet as a society – they, especially the woman has become the subject of vicious trolling, character assassination and vulgar memes.”

“Why can’t people handle reality, why do raw human emotions make them uncomfortable, why does everything have to be candy flossed, why have people become this bitter, so full of hate, so inhumane and so judgemental?,” Ms Shrinate argued.

Ms Shrinate has come out in Deepika’s support days after Karan Johar addressed the hate towards Deepika. “Trolling gets you nowhere. You are landing nowhere. You’re filling and brimming your heart with negativity but landing nowhere because what’s gonna happen will happen to the people you’re trolling. If they’re gonna meet the success, they will. If they’re gonna fail, they will. It has nothing to do with you,” Mr Johar said during an Instagram live.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday demanded the Centre to resolve the issue of Maratha reservation by calling a special session of Parliament.

Addressing a press conference here, he said all Union ministers from Maharashtra should raise the reservation issue in the cabinet meeting.

He also urged the Union ministers to resign if the (Maratha reservation) demand is not met.

“This issue should be addressed by the Centre. This can only be resolved in the Lok Sabha. I have been saying this and I say this again that the government should call a special session of Parliament (to resolve the issue),” Mr Thackeray said.

“Even if a special session of the state legislature is required it should be convened,” he added.

The Sena (UBT) president said there was unease in the state over the Maratha reservation issue.

Incidents of violence erupted in parts of Maharashtra over the past few days with the Maratha quota supporters vandalising the residences and offices of some politicians.

Activist Manoj Jarange has been on an indefinite fast since October 25 at his Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district to demand Maratha reservation.