Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said he will hold discussions with any ‘genuine’ farmer leader to find a solution to the ongoing strike.
“The State government is ready to talk to any real farmer leader. It won’t matter if the leader is having differences of opinion with us. But we will not talk to someone who has political intentions. There are leaders who are shooting from farmers’ shoulders,” Mr. Fadnavis said at a press conference.
Reiterating his position on farm loan waiver, Mr. Fadnavis said his government will give the highest ever loan waiver to small land-holding farmers. “When we met the delegation of farmers, we placed this position before them. The government has sought four months’ time to work out a plan to implement loan waiver, and still if few people are hitting the road, then it is their politics. They have nothing to do with farmers.”
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“The CAG had shown in past how loan waiver was used wrongly. This should not be repeated now. Andhra Pradesh had invented a technology that is used for actual mapping of the needy farmers. We will develop a similar technology before implementation,” he said.
With a new steering committee of 21 farmer leaders leading the protest, Mr. Fadnavis, however, did not reply on whether he is ready to sit with the committee.
Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu, who was present at the press conference, said Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh have waived off the farm loan, but they have different situations and circumstances. “Maharashtra has a different situation, which needs a long-term measure. We will help Maharashtra as much as possible.”
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Taking on the Shiv Sena, which has joined the farmers’ protest, Mr. Naidu said it should rather work within the government to provide relief to the farmers.
Commenting on the violence during the strike, Mr. Fadnavis said, “I have details of violence at every place. I know which parties have done this. I have details of political workers who indulged in violence. A few parties are trying to use the farmers’ agitation for their political gains.”
He also claimed that farmers did not support the Monday’s bandh. “Of 307 APMCs in the state, 300 were open. Four were closed due to weekly off. It means only three APMCs were closed due to strike. These numbers show the reality of the agitation.”