Mumbai, Oct 12 (IANS): Amid protests over reservations in the run-up to the Maharashtra Assembly elections, BJP leader Pankaja Munde on Saturday, without naming pro-Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, took a potshot at him, saying that she will not sit quiet and fight back if the deprived, underprivileged and the Dalits are harassed.

"I am the daughter of Gopinath Munde (a veteran BJP leader). We need to remain firmly behind those who are working and not against those who are riding the caste plank," she said at a rally on the occasion of Dussehra at Bhagwangad in Ahilyanagar district (erstwhile Ahmednagar district).

Pankaja Munde also announced that she would travel across Maharashtra during the upcoming Assembly elections, and fight for the cause of the underprivileged and OBCs.

She also dropped indications of taking on pro-Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil who has been holding protests demanding the implementation of the Maratha reservation and putting up a fight against the state government and the OBC leadership for "encroaching upon" the reservation quota of the Maratha community.

In a highly spirited speech, Pankaja Munde thanked her supporters (who were mainly from the Vanjari community and OBCs) for remaining with her and supporting her during her bad phase, especially after her defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. "Even after my defeat, you gave me respect," she said amid thunderous applause.

Expressing serious concern over the rising feud and tension between various castes and communities, the BJP leader said: "If a person is injured or killed in a hit-and-run case, the caste of the driver or injured or deceased is asked. Similarly, if a girl is sexually abused, the caste of the victim and a molester is asked."

Pankaja Munde said that she is all for social and communal harmony against those who are planting castes and communities against each other to pursue their politics.

She also asked the sugarcane farmers not to go to work without casting their votes in the upcoming Assembly election.

"Promise me that no one will go to cut sugarcane without voting. I will not take my last breath without changing the lives of the sugarcane-cutting farmers. I am not afraid of anyone. I don't go and meet anyone in the dark. I want to develop, I want to build roads in villages," she said, reiterating her plans to travel across Maharashtra during the Assembly elections.