The 10-day nationwide strike called by the All India Kisan Mahasangh elicited a lukewarm response in most parts of Maharashtra on the first day of the agitation.
Barring Ahmednagar, Jalgaon and a few areas in Nashik district, the nerve centre of the agitation, the strike failed to get going in urban centres such as Mumbai and Pune.
Supply of milk and vegetables to these areas also remained largely unaffected. While more than 100 farmers’ outfits participated in the strike, major organisations in the State like the Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana refrained from actively participating in the protest.
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In Khed Shivapur, farmers condemned the apathy of the Devendra Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government by spilling thousands of litres of milk along Pune-Bengaluru highway.
Similar scenes were witnessed near Sinnar-Shirdi highway in Nashik. Farmers demonstrated by spilling milk and demanding a complete loan waiver and immediate implementation of the recommendations put forward by the M.S. Swaminathan Committee on agrarian reform. According to reports, the police detained three protesters in Saikheda in Nashik.
At Khamkheda village in the district’s Deola tehsil, tomato farmers protested by throwing their produce on the roads. The strike had an impact on business at the district’s Lasalgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee. Sources said the agitation would see a rise in onion prices and other vegetables and fruits in the coming days.
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Business as usual
However, business remained largely unaffected in major wholesale markets in Mumbai and Pune and dairies in Western Maharashtra. According to Dilip Khaire, chairman of the board of administrators of Pune APMC, the arrival of fruits and vegetables had been normal.