Former Union Finance Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha continued his protest in support of farmers’ demands at a police ground in Akola district of Maharashtra on Tuesday.
Mr. Sinha, who was detained by the police during a farmers’ protest march on Monday , was released by the police after a few hours. However, the BJP leader refused to leave the ground in front of the police headquarters in Akola and sat along with other protesting farmer leaders and farmers throughout Monday night and Tuesday.
Disgruntled BJP MP Nana Patole and Independent MLA from Maharashtra Bachchu Kadu met Mr.Sinha at the police ground on Tuesday and offered him their support.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee also tweeted in support of Mr. Sinha. Ms.Bannerjee tweeted that she would send her party MP Dinesh Trivedi to Akola to meet Mr. Sinha.
“Our aim is that the government should accept the demands of the farmers here,” Mr.Sinha told reporters in Akola. “There was a discussion [on the farmers’ demand with the administration] till late night yesterday [Monday]. But our demands were not accepted, which is why we are continuing our protest. The government and the administration don’t appear to be serious about the farmers’ cause.”
The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) leader Ravikant Tupkar, who was also detained along with Mr.Sinha, said many political parties, including the Congress, the NCP, and the Shiv Sena, had offered their support to Mr. Sinha. Mr. Tupkar also claimed that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray spoke to Mr. Sinha over the phone.
“This government is insensitive to farmers’ issues. We are not going to budge until they fulfil all our demands, no matter what the consequences,” Mr. Tupkar told The Hindu .
Mr.Sinha, who had been publicly criticising the Narendra Modi government’s economic policies, claimed that many senior politicians had called him on Tuesday.
The farmers’ demands include the purchase of some crops by the NAFED, assessment of farmers’ cotton crop loss due to bollworm and compensation and action against multinational companies for supplying defective seeds.
