The suicide of a farmer in Solapur district on Wednesday night added fuel to the ongoing State-wide farmers’ agitation. The Nashik faction of the Kisan Kranti Morcha have given the Devendra Fadnavis government an ultimatum to accept their demands without delay.
Solapur Collector Rajendra Bhosale said on Thursday that Dhanaji Jadhav, a farmer from the village of Veet in Solapur’s Karmala taluk, ended his life unable to bear the heavy burden of debt by hanging himself by rope from a tree near his home.
It was Jadhav’s suicide note in which he urged his body not be cremated until the Chief Minister had visited the village that lit the spark in Karmala. Restive villagers vowed to block roads and stage demonstrations against the government.
Solapur’s Guardian Minister Vijay Deshmukh rushed to meet the bereaved family on directions from the Mantralaya in Mumbai. Mr. Fadnavis spoke with the kin of the deceased and assured them that they would be taken care of by the State government.
According to sources, the Chief Minister has said that one of Jadhav’s sons would be given a government job and the expenses for his younger son’s education would be borne by the government. Following news of the Chief Minister’s phone call, angry farmers in Karmala agreed to withdraw their proposed agitation. Jadhav’s last rites were later performed amid scores of mourning farmers.
In a separate incident, a 48-year-old farmer, Hanumant Shinde, took his life by consuming poison in Baramati, 100 km from Pune, making it the third farmer suicide in the taluk in three months and the fourth incident since the agitation began on June 1.
June 13 ultimatum
Meanwhile, the crucial Nashik meeting on Thursday gave the Fadnavis government time till June 13 to resolve demands of the agitators.
Swabhimani Paksha leader Raju Shetti, an ally of the BJP in the State, used the core committee meeting to target Sadabhau Khot, a Minister from his party. He said the ‘traitor’ to the farmers’ cause would be suitably dealt with. Mr. Shetti has been struggling to keep his party from splitting following speculations of Mr. Khot formally allying himself with the BJP.
Leadership questioned
Mr. Shetti, who heads the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, warned the Fadnavis government (and Mr. Khot indirectly) that there would be a massive railway blockade on June 13 by the agitating farmers unless the government implemented the demands. The Nashik core commitee also has the political backing of independent legislator Bacchu Kadu and Congress leader Bhai Jagtap.
During the meeting, a woman protester stormed the podium and questioned the credibility of Mr. Shetti and Mr. Kadu to lead the farmers’ agitation as both were still politically allied to the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government in the State.
