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Debjit Mukherjee: The house of NCP MLA Prakash Solanke was set on fire by arsonists in Maharashtra’s Beed district on October 29. The local Maratha quota protesters have been blamed for the incident.
Visuals showed a large white house engulfed in flames. The fire was likely to have caused significant damage, as the video showed a huge plume of black smoke emanating from the burning residential structure.
No person was injured due to the blaze, as per the preliminary reports.
The house was vandalised and set ablaze by the Maratha reservation protesters. However, a statement from the local police was yet to be shared.
Solanke claimed that he and his family members was inside the house when it was attacked by the arsonists. “I was inside my home when it was attacked. Fortunately, none of my family members or staff were injured. We are all safe but there is a huge loss of property due to fire,” he said.
Notably, the Maratha reservation agitation has intensified in various parts of the state. The 40-day deadline to announce the reservation, that was issued by quota leader Jarange Patil, lapsed on October 25. Subsequently, Jarange sat on an indefinite fast in Jalna.
This is the second time when Jarange has launched an indefinite fast to protest against the alleged lack of action taken by the government to implement a quota for the Maratha community in education and government jobs.
Earlier, he had launched an indefinite fast in August-end. The fast was ended by him on September 14 after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde assured him that the government would provide reservation to the community at the earliest.
