MUMBAI: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will not perform the Ashadi Ekadashi puja at the Vitthal temple at Pandharpur in Solapur on Monday. His decision follows intelligence reports of plans to trigger untoward incidents during the function.Some Maratha groups have threatened to stop the chief minister from performing the rituals as their demand for quotas in education and employment has not been met.Maratha outfits fear the community will lose out in a mega recruitment drive launched by the government. They also want the government to hang the accused in the Kopardi gangrape case, announce a blanket loan waiver, and arrest right-wing activist Sambhaji Bhide in connection with the violence at Koregaon-Bhima.Intel warns of plan to trigger stampedeNobody can stop me from performing puja at Pandharpur. But I have decided to stay away for the safety of devotees who gather there. I don’t want any problems during the puja,” Fadnavis told mediapersons on Sunday.Fadnavis and his wife performed the 45minute-long puja of Vithoba at Varsha around 1.30am on Monday.He said that the police have intercepted some calls in which some groups are heard discussing a plan to trigger a stampede by releasing snakes among the devotees. “I have ‘Z’ plus security for myself, no one can even touch me. But I do not want anyone else to be injured,” said Fadnavis Political analysts said this is a sign that the unrest among the dominant Maratha community is getting hard to handle for the current BJP government.Traditionally, the chief minister and his wife perform the ‘Maha Puja’ on the occasion of Ashadi Ekadashi every year. So far, the tradition has been broken only 5-6 times. Fadnavis has attended the event for the past three years. In 1997, then chief minister Manohar Joshi had cancelled his puja at Pandharpur after Dalit groups threatened to protest in the wake of the Ramabai Nagar incident.A commoner couple is also selected to participate in the puja with the CM.“By throwing stones at me if people think they can get their demands met, then I am ready for it. Despite knowing that the case regarding Maratha reservation is being heard by the high court and that we are doing everything we can, members of some groups are instigating the community against us,” said Fadnavis.He also said that the Maratha youth will get 16% reservation in the upcoming recruitment drive to fill 70,000 posts.“We do not want to obstruct anyone, but it’s a fact that the promises made the government are not being implemented. The scholarship announced for professional courses are not being given to our youth,” said a Maratha Kranti Morcha member.