The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday fired back at Maratha quota leader Manoj Jarange after he urged the Maratha community to defeat the saffron party candidates in the upcoming assembly elections. The saffron party, which is facing an uphill task of returning to power after the Lok Sabha setback, accused Jarange of working as a "proxy" for Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
The BJP leaders said they are picking up the gauntlet thrown by the Maratha leader. A war of words erupted after Jarange accused Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis of trying to frame him, drawing a sharp reaction from the ruling BJP.
"We have accepted Manoj Jarange's challenge and will face him on the election battlefield," BJP leader Pravin Darekar said and accused Jarange of playing into the hands of the MVA, comprising Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, and Sharad Pawar-led NCP, and Congress.
Accusing Jarange of adopting "double standards", Darekar said on "odd days he distances himself from politics, and on even days, he asks Maratha community to vote BJP out of power". The BJP leader 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," Darekar.
Jarange Wednesday suspended his indefinite fast on the fifth day, claiming pressure from Maratha community members. Speaking to the media in Jalna, he accused Fadnavis of playing low-level power politics by misusing government machinery against the opponents.
Jarange launched his latest fast on July 20 in support of his demands, including implementation of the draft notification that recognises Kunbis as 'sage soyare' (blood relatives) of Maratha community members and granting reservation to the latter under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
The Maratha leader accused Fadnavis, who is also the state Home Minister, of trying to implicate him in a false case. This allegation came in the wake of a Pune court issuing a fresh non-bailable warrant in a 2013 cheating case. Dhananjay Ghorpade, the producer-director of Marathi play 'Shambhuraje' has alleged that Jarange and his associates failed to pay Rs 13.21 lakh after organising six shows of the play in Jalna.
Jarange accused Fadnavis of playing low-level politics to bring his party into power by using government machinery against the opponents. The BJP has refrained from severely criticising Jarange even though he has 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.
Maharashtra assembly polls are due in October this year.
(With inputs from PTI)