Wadettiwar slams govt over Jarange's Mumbai stir, says ministers bow more than pets

Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil has announced an agitation in Mumbai. With the protest set to coincide with Ganeshotsav, concerns have been raised about law and order in the city. Reacting to this, senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar launched a sharp attack on the government while speaking to the media.

Wadettiwar said that while crowds were bound to gather because of Ganeshotsav, the real question was how the government handles the agitation. He alleged that the government was deliberately trying to create an OBC versus Hindu dispute. He said the government had no strength left, and that ministers bowed so low before Jarange that even a pet animal would be ashamed. He sarcastically asked why the ministers' necks did not break from bowing so much. He said this was why Jarange Patil felt like a king, and that when a government bows, someone is always found to make it bow. Wadettiwar said the government was now bowing, and what happens next is a matter between the government and Jarange, which they would have to sort out themselves.

Asked whether Jarange's arrival in Mumbai would cause trouble for Mumbaikars, Wadettiwar said there would certainly be crowds because of Ganeshotsav, but the government should focus on how it handles the agitation. He repeated his allegation that the government itself had created the OBC versus Hindu dispute, calling it a crisis that had befallen OBC society and a sin committed by the government.

Wadettiwar further said the government pays no attention to OBC issues and does not resolve their problems. He claimed that 80 percent of people were getting only 15 percent of the reserved posts in jobs, and that the same was true in employment overall. He said Jarange was agitating again, and how to handle it was the government's headache. He appealed that the community had placed its demands and the government should now show seriousness.

On local self-government bodies, Wadettiwar said nothing was left there either. He said that in some districts, 90 percent of seats had slipped out of the hands of micro-OBC groups, and the same had happened earlier in zilla parishads. He alleged that people were winning elections using OBC certificates, including fake certificates, raising the question of where the real OBCs were being protected. He said established candidates were the ones winning elections while genuine OBCs were not getting a chance, calling it a rigged game, and questioned whether the government was truly working for OBC welfare.

Wadettiwar said that if the government truly had the strength, it should stop this agitation. He alleged that government functionaries used cheap and abusive language against OBC leaders, language so poor it evoked pity for their intelligence. He clarified he had no objection to the agitation itself, but said the government was sitting with its tail between its legs, lacking the courage to act, and felt no shame even when hurled such low-grade abuse. He said this was the government's failure.

Finally, Wadettiwar said sarcastically that if Jarange was speaking against senior leaders, the government should take action against him if it had the strength to do so. Otherwise, he said, ministers would keep being sent to press the feet of agitators and massage Jarange Patil's feet to get him to agree to the government's terms. He said the whole of Maharashtra was watching what was happening.