Asked if he drinks, Jarange says he will end his life if a narco test proves it

Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil was asked directly in an interview whether he drinks alcohol. He answered in a blunt and light-hearted manner, and a video of the exchange has gone viral on social media.

Jarange said he drinks water and nothing else. He said he has never touched anything that is drunk after mixing it with water, and that it has not harmed even a bone in his body. He then challenged anyone to prove through a narco test that he drinks, saying that if it was proved he would end his life that very day.

Jarange also recounted an episode from his Class 10 days, saying he was sharing it as an experience. During the Class 10 examinations, he and his friends went to Chalamba. A brand-new bottle called Thums Up or Zam Zam, which looked red, had just come to the market. After the paper, the friends decided to have Thums Up.

According to Jarange, they all sat in an eatery made of sacking. They bought a single bottle together and a little was poured into everyone's glass. Seeing that it was red, he first dipped a finger in it and licked it. He said that the moment he tasted it, it gave a tingling sensation. They ran from there and went straight home. He said he did not want any of that liquor.

Explaining the background to the question, the report said that when a social activist starts an agitation, an attempt is first made to manage him. If he does not agree, pressure is applied, and then character assassination follows. In Jarange's case too, there was first an attempt to manage him, then to pressure him, and then character assassination. After that, rumours that he drinks were spread.

Last week, a leader made a serious allegation against Jarange that he was having an affair with a woman. Jarange had responded sharply. He had said, "Yes, I am having an affair. Bring her, I will marry her." He also rebuked the leader.

Jarange had said that the leader too must have a mother, sister, aunt and daughters, and asked how he could say such a thing about other people's daughters and how he could drag someone's honour through the mud. He asked whether the leader had any sense. According to Jarange, many women and men come to the agitation who want to be photographed with him, and they are. He asked whether that meant he was having an affair with them. Jarange had expressed anger over the matter.