The allegation of Rs 500 crore being paid to Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil — contained in an audio clip released by him on Dussehra — has more to do with the Maharashtra Assembly elections held in October-November 2024 than to discourage him from holding hunger strikes.

Jarange, who had been holding intermittent hunger strikes since from September 2023 demanding Maratha reservation, had started to threaten the Mahayuti Government that he would field his candidates in all 288 assembly seats immediately after the Lok Sabha elections results in June 2024. Initially, the Maratha quota activist had aimed to contest all assembly seats, but as the assembly elections approached, he said he would field 15 candidates with the intention of defeating Mahayuti candidates and campaign in seats of leaders who had opposed the Maratha quota.

These statements of Jarange’s came at a time when the Mahayuti had already suffered a defeat in June 2024 Lok Sabha elections.…