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.

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.