A core committee of the Kisan Kranti Morcha, the umbrella body for agitating farmers in the State, called for a State-wide bandh on Monday as part of the ongoing farmers’ strike. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Morcha in Nashik on Sunday, which also said the agitation will continue till their demands for loan waivers and minimum support price are met by the government. The bandh will exclude Mumbai.
In a meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday, a section of farmer leaders unilaterally announced that the strike had been called off. However, farmers in Nashik, Ahmednagar, Solapur and Western Maharashtra continued with agitation, which intensified on Sunday.
At the core commitee meeting at Nashik on Sunday, farmers leaders reiterated that the strike will not be called off based on promises made by Mr Fadnavis. “We want the promises to be implemented. The CM has been making these promises repeatedly for months now,” Ajit Nawale, state secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha (ABKS), said.
Besides an immediate waiving off of all farm loans, the Morcha has demanded that all cases against protesting farmers be withdrawn unconditionally. The committee will meet again on June 7 in Mumbai, and has organised a State-wide conference in Nashik a day later. The conference is expected to be attended by farmers leaders, where a final decision on the mode of protest will be taken. Mr. Nawale will be holding a ‘self-introspection’ rally in Puntamba in Ahmednagar district, the village where the strike originated, over the alleged ‘betrayal’ by the section of farmer leaders that called off the strike.
Though the government had planned on keeping Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMC) on Sunday, most of them remained closed and reported a drop of nearly 60% in vehicles arriving with produce. There were protests in Nashik, Ahmednagar, Kolhapur, Aurangabad and parts of Vidarbha. theFarmer leader Jayaji Suryavanshi, accused of brokering a deal with Mr. Fadnavis and calling the strike off, faced the wrath of protesters who pelted tomatoes on his residence in Aurangabad.
Meanwhile, State Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil accused NCP chief and former Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar of doing little for farmers when his party was in power. “Why is Sharad Pawar showing so much concern for farmers? His party failed to give them a minimum support price (MSP) during its 15-year rule. Mr. Pawar’s recent allegations come from fear of losing his Janata Raja identity.”
Earlier this week, Mr. Pawar had claimed the State government was trying to divide farmers by leaking reports that it is considering loan waivers for a section of farmers. Mr Patil said, “Some people are creating a ruckus and destroying milk and vegetables in the name of the farmers’ strike. One should find out who looted the common man by hiking prices and which party they belong to.”
