India, Aug. 31 -- As the Maratha reservation agitation entered its second day with no signs of activist Manoj Jarange-Patil withdrawing his hunger strike, the ruling Mahayuti did not appear to be on the same page. While chief minister Devendra Fadnavis asked the cabinet sub-committee on the Maratha reservation issue to discuss Jarange-Patil's demands, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde upped and left for his ancestral village Dare on Saturday evening while the second deputy CM Ajit Pawar was busy with his engagements in Pune. Significantly, the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) alleged that Shinde was helping the Maratha outfits to get Fadnavis into political trouble.

From the day that Jarange-Patil reached Mumbai and began his hunger strike, ...