ON THE DAY the deadline to withdraw nominations for the Maharashtra Assembly elections ended, this was one “withdrawal” few were expecting.

Not only did ‘activist’ Manoj Jarange-Patil take the surprise decision to not back any candidate – having earlier climbed down on his decision to field his own – he also asked the Maratha community not to vote solely with the motive of defeating nominees who oppose quota.

In an interview to ABP Majha, Jarange-Patil went further and said his supporters were free to back BJP leaders if they supported the Maratha reservation demand.

The BJP immediately hailed Jarange-Patil’s decision, describing it as sensible, appropriate and ”healthy” for Jarange’s agitation for Maratha reservation.

If the activist’s decision is seen as lowering the heat on the ruling Mahayuti, it could come as a boost for the coalition, particularly the BJP, whose Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has faced the brunt of Jarange-Patil’s frequent hunger strikes and other pressure tactics over the course of the past 15 months.

”This is real Diwali for us,” said a BJP leader from Beed district.

But the NCP (SP) argued that the development went in its favour, with its chief Sharad Pawar, who many believe has a hand in Jarange-Patil’s rise, saying: ”We have nothing to do with his decision. If he had backed own candidates, the BJP would have benefited (due to a split in the Maratha vote). He has taken the right decision.”

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut was cautious, saying: ”It is entirely up to Jarange-Patil to take a decision regarding the elections… His battle is not political but a social movement. We will not advise him as to his stand. We will always extend our best wishes to his struggle for Maratha reservations… He has even staked his life, and the community has stood rock solid behind him.”

The activist’s change of heart came less than 12 hours after his 11 pm Sunday press conference where he vowed “revenge” against the Mahayuti for “brazenly cheating” the Maratha community over reservations, and even broke down while making a promise to release a list of candidates he would back before 7 am Monday. He even indicated the seats where these candidates could be standing from – in Beed, Jalna, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Pune – and said: ”We will back candidates and wherever we do not back candidates, we will defeat those who oppose Maratha reservation.”

Instead, at 9.30 am Monday, Jarange-Patil announced that he would not back any candidates, claiming that ”friendly parties” had failed to send a list of names as promised to him. He claimed he was not acting under any pressure, but as a part of his ”Ganimi kava” or guerrilla tactics.

Asking the Maratha community to decide on their own regarding whom to vote for, Jarange-Patil said: “Because of some hurdles, the list from our alliance partners did not reach us. However, we will remain together… This is politics, such things happen.”

On the BJP, he told ABP Majha in an interview: ”If its candidates give us in writing that they support our quota demand or send videos supporting our demand, we will support them… We will not share their letter or demand with anyone else.”

All along while he talked about backing candidates, Jarange-Patil had promised an alliance with Muslim and Dalit communities. After a meeting with religious leaders of the two communities, he had said they could field “common candidates”. ”No caste can win an election on its own. We need support from other communities,” he had said.

The Maratha community comprises as much as 32% of the Maharashtra population, and was seen as backing the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) over the quota issue. In this year’s Lok Sabha elections, the MVA won seven seats of the eight in Marathwada, the epicentre of the Maratha agitation, with top BJP leaders among those who lost. In the 2019 elections, the BJP had won four of these eight Lok Sabha seats, with ally Shiv Sena (then united) winning three. The Congress-NCP (then united) had drawn a blank.

A prominent leader of the Maratha Kranti Morcha, who played a key role in the quota agitation, said they had got a sense the past few days that Jarange-Patil might do a U-turn. “Politics is a different ball game, which Jarange-Patil should understand,” the leader said, adding that he did not want to be identified for fear of a “backlash”.

For Fadnavis in particular, the development might prove a relief, with many even within the Mahayuti blaming him and a lathicharge on an agitation led by Jarange-Patil (Fadnavis holds the Home Ministry) in particular for the turn of events. In a government led by Shinde and including another Maratha leader, Ajit Pawar, as Deputy CM, Fadnavis started out with a disadvantage on the issue.

However, now his consistent defence that it was a government led by him that first gave reservation to the Maratha community – struck down by courts – is going to ring louder.

BJP spokesperson Pravin Darekar said: ”Jarange-Patil has taken the right decision so far as his agitation for reservation is concerned. The agitation was becoming politicised. His talk about backing candidates and defeating candidates was causing confusion among the Maratha community.”

Darekar also said that it appeared that the activist’s bid to strike an alliance with Muslim and Dalit communities had failed. “It seems they have not responded to his call,” he said, adding that the Maratha community was, in fact, disappointed by his decision to hold talks “with the likes of the AIMIM’s Jaleel”.

The BJP spokesperson added that given that the Mahayuti government had taken decisions “in the interest of the Maratha community”, Jarange-Patil’s move was, in fact, “an appeal to support the ruling coalition”.