Mumbai: Maratha Kranti Morcha hits the streets, Opposition leaders set to join protestors
Maharashtra Cabinet minister Eknath Shinde appealed to the agitators not to march towards the Mantralaya.
![Mumbai: Maratha Kranti Morcha hits the streets, Opposition leaders set to join protestors](https://sc0.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/large/846632-65258-bsdwufpcjf-1502277462.jpg)
Thousands of people took over the roads in south Mumbai on Wednesday to participate in the Maratha Kranti Morcha rally demanding reservation for the community in jobs and colleges. While schools in south Mumbai were shut for the day, the JJ flyover was also closed for traffic.
Legislators from Opposition parties are set to join the protestors at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. The Maharashtra Assembly has been adjourned till 3 pm. Members of the Shiv Sena too joined the protests demanding reservation, reported Hindustan Times.
Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation minister Eknath Shinde reached Hutatma Chowk in Mumbai and requested the protestors to avoid marching towards the Mantralaya, the administrative headquarters of the Maharashtra government.
The rally started from Byculla Zoo at 11 am and is heading towards the Azad Maidan marching through the JJ flyover. The protestors are expected to meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after the rally where they will submit a memorandum of their demands.
#WATCH Mumbai: Visuals of #MarathaKrantiMorcha rally demanding reservation pic.twitter.com/zCozsaeOek
— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2017
Look Mr. @Dev_Fadnavis & @narendramodi we all Marathas are going to make history today.. #MarathaKrantiMorcha #MarathaInMumbai pic.twitter.com/vWPA9PsFkD
— Neha Patil (@NehaPat57058574) August 9, 2017
#MarathaKrantiMorcha: Wondering what the thick of the action is like? Take a lookhttps://t.co/CMuFM7YBy4 pic.twitter.com/aYjYcrSpE7
— HTMumbai (@HTMumbai) August 9, 2017
#MarathaKrantiMorcha @patyanews pic.twitter.com/kbFDRuyEH0
— Sakshi Arora (@AroraExplorer) August 9, 2017
25 Lakh Marathas gathered n still counting. Now waiting for 11 AM n rally will start. #MarathaKrantiMorcha #MarathaMorcha pic.twitter.com/AAjaLlcHbj
— पाटील (@Patil_g_) August 9, 2017
The umbrella organisation of all Maratha groups, the Sakal Maratha Samaj, has organised the rally. The first Maratha Kranti Morcha was held in August last year, demanding death penalty for the accused in the gang rape and murder of a 15-year-old in Maharashtra’s Kopardi village in 2016. Besides, the protestors have also demanded amendments in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, quotas for Marathis in government jobs and educational institutes and a minimum support price for farmers, among other things.