Maharashtra Deputy Speaker jumps off 3rd floor of Secretariat in protest | Watch video
Narhari Zirwal, a member of the Ajit Pawar faction of NCP, was protesting govt's consideration of including Dhangar community in ST category
PTC Web Desk: Mumbai witnessed an unusual protest at the state secretariat, Mantralaya, on Friday when Maharashtra Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, along with three legislators, jumped from the third floor in opposition to the inclusion of the Dhangar community in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category. The group landed safely on a protective net installed one floor below, a safety measure put in place in 2018 to prevent suicides.
Narhari Zirwal, a member of the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the three other legislators, including a BJP MP, carried out the dramatic act to protest the government’s consideration of including the Dhangar community in the ST category. None of the legislators sustained injuries, officials confirmed.
Video footage later showed the legislators climbing back into the building after landing on the net. Earlier, tribal MLAs had staged a separate protest outside the Mantralaya during a Cabinet meeting, which was attended by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis.
Currently, the Dhangar community in Maharashtra is classified under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Protesters in Solapur's Pandharpur have been demanding their inclusion in the ST category, arguing that they share the same roots as the Dhangads, who are listed as Scheduled Tribes in other states.