Banners in Beed hit back at Jarange Patil's criticism of Deputy CM Shinde

A banner in Beed city is the talk of the town. At the Dussehra gathering at Narayangad, Maratha agitator Manoj Jarange Patil had directly attacked Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Banners have now come up in Beed reading "Shinde saheb, you did slip up a little...". The banner is addressed to Jarange Patil and is said to have been put up in support of the Chief Minister. It is being discussed in political circles across the state.

The atmosphere in the state is already charged over Maratha reservation. The banner, at the main square in Beed, carries a full list of Shinde's work for the Maratha community. It claims the list has been put up to explain the record to Jarange Patil.

The banner raises the issue of Kunbi certificates. It says that in the past 40 years only 2,019 Kunbi certificates were issued in Marathwada, while Shinde issued 3.5 lakh certificates in just two years. The line "Shinde saheb, you slipped up" is repeated at the end of each point.

The second point is SEBC reservation. According to the banner, the Maratha community was given a separate 10 per cent SEBC quota, from which 3.5 lakh students benefited. The banner ends sarcastically, saying Shinde saheb did indeed slip up, since after all this he has to hear language such as "I will shut down your market" over four political certificates.

The banner follows events of a few days ago. During the agitation, Jarange Patil criticised Shinde in very harsh words and used language such as "I will shut down your market". Shinde supporters, or some group within the Maratha community, have put up the banner in reply and to place Shinde's decisions before the public.

The banner says Shinde gave a 10 per cent reservation for Marathas that can stand up in court, sped up the work of tracing Kunbi records and distributing certificates, and helped students through the Sarathi institute. It conveys the tone that the criticism of him despite this is not right. All eyes are now on how Jarange Patil responds to the banners.

At the Narayangad Dussehra gathering, Jarange Patil spoke on several issues, including Maratha reservation. He sharply criticised Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as well as MP Shrikant Shinde. Jarange asked Eknath Shinde directly, and challenged him to answer, whether he had told BJP leaders that he had given Rs 500 crore.

Jarange Patil claimed he had learnt that some BJP leaders in Delhi were discussing that he had received Rs 500 crore. He asked whether Eknath Shinde had told BJP leaders that he took Rs 500 crore from the BJP and passed it to him through MP Shrikant Shinde. He asked, "Eknath Shinde saheb, did you give me Rs 500 crore?" and challenged him to reply by that evening or the next morning. He also put five key demands before the government, including assistance of Rs 1 lakh per hectare for farmers, a full loan waiver and crop insurance payouts.