Antarwali Sarati (Jalna), Sep 12: Entering the 15th day of his hunger strike, Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil on Saturday announced a march to Mumbai to launch an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan.

Addressing a gathering at Antarwali Sarati, Jarange Patil gave the detailed route for the march and urged the police administration and Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis not to stop them.

Jarange Patil will leave Antarwali Sarati on September 15 and start an indefinite strike at Azad Maidan Mumbai from September 19.

Jarange Patil stated that the march represents the pride and existence of the Maratha community. He appealed to supporters along the route to step out and offer their blessings, even if they are unable to travel all the way to Mumbai. He also called on community members to halt work and join the movement on the specified dates.

According to Jarange Patil, the march will proceed along the Antarwali – Shahagad – Gevrai – Beed – Manjarsumbha – Limba Ganesh – Patoda route towards Mumbai.

Due to the massive convoy of vehicles moving at low speeds, the journey will be completed in stages. The first halt will be at Patoda (Beed district), second halt at Shrigonda (Ahilyanagar district), third halt at Hadapsar (Pune district) and fourth halt at Khopoli (Raigad district) / Koparkhairane (Navi Mumbai) (Khopoli currently finalised). The final destination will be Azad Maidan, Mumbai.

Addressing requests from various regions, Jarange Patil explained that the route via Hadapsar was selected to include supporters from Pune and Western Maharashtra who felt left out during previous marches. He reiterated his appeal to state authorities, urging Devendra Fadnavis and the police not to erect barricades or obstruct the peaceful rally.

“We want to conduct a peaceful, democratic hunger strike to claim our rights. If the police block us anywhere along the highway, we will not push barricades or clash with authorities. We will simply sit down peacefully on the road wherever we are stopped,” Jarange Patil stated.

He further instructed all participants in the convoy to maintain strict discipline, avoid overtaking, ensure no member of the public is harmed, and stay on the designated route.

Reflecting on his health on day 15 of the strike, Jarange Patil noted that he was able to speak only due to IV fluids. Calling this the “final battle” for the community’s cause, he put the decision to the crowd, asking whether they should stay in Antarwali or march to Mumbai.

The crowd responded with overwhelming chants of “Mumbai, Mumbai!”

“Our goal is to reach Mumbai peacefully and return victorious,” Jarange Patil declared, finalising the march to the state capital.

Mumbai, Sep 12: India has become the fourth largest holder of foreign exchange reserves in the world after the record surge in dollar inflows triggered by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) foreign currency non-resident (bank) (FCNR(B) deposits scheme, according to data.

With the $44.9 billion increase in its forex kitty to a record $785.7 billion during the week ended September 4, India has dislodged Russia from the fourth spot and is now ranked only behind China, Japan, and Switzerland, the data compiled by Bloomberg showed.

The record increase in the foreign exchange reserves has taken place despite a decline in the gold reserves component by $2.59 billion to $113.81 billion during the week as gold prices fell.

An increase in the foreign exchange reserves reflects strong fundamentals of the economy and gives the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) more headroom to stabilise the rupee when it turns volatile.

A strong forex kitty enables the RBI to intervene in the spot and forward currency markets by releasing more dollars to prevent the rupee from going into a free fall.

Meanwhile, the RBI has announced a Rs 1 lakh crore open market operation (OMO) sale of government bonds to mop up the excess liquidity in the banking system that has resulted from the strong inflow of foreign currency.

The RBI will sell government securities worth Rs 1 lakh crore in three tranches — Rs 50,000 crore on September 17, Rs 25,000 crore on September 21, and another Rs 25,000 crore on September 28. The auctions will be conducted through the multiple-price method using a multi-security auction.

Earlier, the Reserve Bank had raised over Rs 3.53 lakh crore through an overnight Variable Rate Reverse Repo (VRRR) auction with a 1-day tenor on Monday, to absorb surplus cash from the banking system.

A VRRR auction is a monetary policy tool used by a central bank to absorb excess cash from the banking system and ensure financial stability in the economy.

The RBI has stepped up liquidity absorption operations as the banking system has been flooded with funds following large inflows through the special FCNR(B) deposit scheme.

RBI’s special dollar-rupee forex swap facility for FCNR(B) deposits, Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCB) and External Commercial Borrowings (ECB), launched on June 8 this year, has driven an unprecedented surge in foreign exchange inflows into the country to the tune of $73 billion in less than 11 weeks of the launch.

The response was strong enough for the RBI to advance the closure of the FCNR(B) window itself, from September 30 to August 31, having already achieved its objective ahead of schedule.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Saturday launched a sharp attack on what it termed the growing global culture of election-time handouts, drawing parallels between US President Donald Trump’s proposed “Trump Dividend” scheme and welfare initiatives rolled out by political parties in India.

In an editorial published in the party mouthpiece Saamana, the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit alleged that the “freebie culture” fostered by Trump in the United States and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India has weakened democratic values and undermined human dignity.

The editorial argued that while India has schemes such as “Ladki Bahin” and similar welfare programmes in various states, Trump’s proposal to deposit $5,000 into the bank account of every adult American if Republicans win control of both houses of Congress amounts to a comparable election-time inducement.

“What Modi and Shah are doing in India, Trump is replicating in the United States — using public money, distributing handouts and winning elections,” the editorial claimed, adding that although the beneficiaries may differ, the underlying political approach remains the same.

According to the Thackeray camp, Trump’s proposed “Trump Dividend” is to secure electoral support through direct cash transfers. It argued that implementing such a scheme would impose a burden of more than $1 trillion on the US Treasury at a time when the country’s national debt has crossed $40 trillion, and its annual fiscal deficit stands at $1.8 trillion.

The editorial further claimed that Trump’s announcement had created unease within his own party and cited reports of concerns over the proposal’s fiscal implications and implementation.

“Furthermore, distributing this handout will require congressional approval. The moment Trump announced the $5,000 payout, leaders and ministers within his own party were left bewildered. Vice President J.D. Vance expressed clear dismay, attempting to control the narrative by stating that the money would only be distributed following strict scrutiny and legal procedures, ensuring wealthy adults would not benefit. This reflects the same strategy used by the Indian government’s grand announcements first, then delay execution using conditional clauses and bureaucratic fine print,” claimed the editorial.

Drawing a comparison with India, the Shiv Sena (UBT) referred to Modi’s 2014 promise of depositing Rs 15 lakh in every Indian’s bank account, alleging that the pledge remains unfulfilled. It also criticised a range of welfare schemes announced by state governments across the country, arguing that such programmes are increasingly being used as electoral tools.

The party said pressing issues such as unemployment, inflation and agrarian distress remain unresolved in India, while Trump’s administration was similarly failing to address domestic challenges in the US.

Claiming that “freebie politics” has become a global trend, the editorial alleged that governments are increasingly relying on public-funded handouts to secure electoral victories. It concluded that such politics, whether in India or the US, have compromised democratic principles and diminished public accountability.