Kolhapur: Residents of Dhangaon, a village in the Palus tehsil of Sangli district, have decided to boycott all elections in the future and ban the entry of leaders (of all political parties) till the time the Maratha community gets reservation under the OBC quota.Hundreds of villagers, mostly those belonging to the Maratha community, marched along the main road of the village and gathered at the main chowk. The villagers also decided to extend their support to the protesters in Jalna who are sitting on strike demanding reservation for the community.Our patience has ended. The political parties are not serious about the concerns of the Maratha community. We have therefore decided to boycott all elections — be it gram panchayat or Lok Sabha. We will also not let the leaders of any political party enter our village, Dipak Bhosale, chairman of a development society of the village, said.The youths submitted a letter to the village sarpanch who has assured them to get it approved by the gram panchayat.Protesters burn tyres on Pune-Solapur HighwayActivists of the Maratha Kranti Morcha in Solapur took to the streets on Wednesday. They demanded that the state government should not delay issuing of a notification granting the OBC status to the Maratha community.They also resorted to burning several tyres on the highway at Bale village. Police later went to the spot and detained the protesters. Traffic on the highway was affected for around 30 minutes.Good response tobandh in IchalkaranjiAfter Kolhapur city, the bandh in Ichalkaranji city also received good response. The city — known as Manchester of Maharashtra — has the presence of a large number of powerlooms. All textile units and shops remained shut on Wednesday to support the demand for Maratha reservation.

Stay updated with all the Latest Kolhapur headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.