Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Thursday said the final number of seats from where he will field his candidates in the Maharashtra assembly elections will be declared on the last day of the filing of nominations next week.
As of now, multiple candidates from the Maratha community can file their nomination papers, but the decision on from which constituency the election will be fought and the names of candidates will be finalised later, he said.
Jarange has been demanding reservation for Marathas under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, along with the enforcement of draft notifications from the Hyderabad, Bombay, and Satara gazettes, which declared the Maratha community as Kunbi, an agrarian group eligible for reservations and benefits under the OBC category.
On Sunday, he announced that he will field Maratha candidates for the assembly elections in constituencies where the community has a strong presence.
The Maratha factor is believed to have dented the established political parties in Marathwada region of Maharashtra in this year's Lok Sabha polls.
The filing of nomination forms for the November 20 elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly began on October 22 and will continue till October 29.
Speaking to reporters at his native Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district, Jarange said, "As of now, multiple Maratha candidates can file their nomination in each constituency in the state. We will discuss how many seats we will contest, but we will not declare anything today. We want to see their (ruling Mahayuti and opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi) list of candidates first."
"From our side, nomination forms will be filled in every constituency. In the constituencies that we decide not to contest, all our candidates will withdraw the forms. But in the constituencies where we decided to fight, one candidate will be in the fray. The final number of seats and the names of the constituencies will be declared on the last day of the filing of nominations," he added.
On Thursday, Jarange is holding district-wise meetings of those who are willing to contest assembly elections.
"A single name will be finalised from our side in each constituency from where we decide to contest, and we expect everyone (from his side) to follow this decision. If they don't do so, they will destroy the dreams of the poor Maratha community," he said.
"We will be fielding candidates from other communities as well. I will work out the formula of winning the polls from 25 to 27 October. I will have a word with other communities, including OBC and Muslim," he added.
