Kolhapur, Sep 4 – The Sakal Maratha Samaj (SMS) has announced a citywide ‘bandh’ in Kolhapur for Tuesday, in response to the alleged police baton charge on Maratha reservation protesters in Jalna district last week. The protest also seeks the resignation of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis, holding him responsible for the incident.
The decision to call for the ‘bandh’ was made during the ‘Jawab Do’ (give reply) agitation at the historic Dasara Chowk in Kolhapur, where SMS activists and representatives of other political parties, including Congress and Shiv Sena (Thackeray), gathered to denounce the police action.
During the demonstration, SMS district president Vasantrao Mulik addressed the gathering, demanding a judicial inquiry into the brutal lathi charge on Maratha agitators and the firing of shots into the air. He also called for the immediate suspension of Jalna’s Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and Deputy Superintendent (DySP). Furthermore, Mulik asserted that Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should assume moral responsibility for the lathi charge and resign from his post without delay.
The agitation saw the participation of prominent political leaders, including Congress MLA Ruturaj Patil, Shiv Sena district president Vijay Devne, as well as Sunil Modi, Ravikiran Ingavakle, Adil Faras, Gani Ajrekar, and Deelip Desai.
Simultaneously, a delegation from SMS, led by district president Mulik, met with District Guardian Minister Deepak Kesarkar. They urged the minister to initiate an inquiry into the brutal lathi charge on the agitators and determine the individuals responsible for the incident
