Mumbai Farmers' Protest: Kisan March to Assembly Put on Hold Till Meeting With CM Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai, Mar 12: The Kisan Long March to Maharashtra Assembly was put on hold after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis invited a delegation of protesters to discuss the demands raised by the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS).

The delegation would be headed by AIKS president Ashok Dhawale, along with the state unit secretary Ajit Nawale. The meeting with Fadnavis is reportedly scheduled at 1 pm.

Dhawale, while speaking to reporters earlier in the day, said, "We have only deferred our march to the Assembly. The protest has not been cancelled. The 50,000 farmers will remain assembled at the Azad Maidan. After meeting the CM, we will decide the future course of our agitation."

Signalling a softening of the stance, Dhawale said the AIKS wants to find a feasible solution for the issues faced by the farmers. "Our aim is not to disrupt the common man's life in Mumbai," he added.

Dhawale, however, reiterated that the Kisan Sabha would not accept "hollow assurances which were made by the government last year".

The union leader was referring to the slew of promises made by Fadnavis in the aftermath of the agrarian agitation in Western Maharashtra last year, when the farmers had choked off supplies to the APMCs.

The Chief Minister had then promised to revise the minimum support price (MSP) to ensure fair return to farmers on their produce. The BJP-led government had also rolled out a loan-waiver package costing Rs 34,200-crore to the exchequer.

The AIKS, however, claims the promises to raise MSP to 150 per cent has not been kept, whereas, "the loan-waiver scheme was a sham which was marred with massive irregularities".

Apart from a "complete loan waiver" and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report, the Kisan Sabha has also demanded the government to immediately allocate land to adivasi cultivators and provide a compensation up to Rs 40,000 per acre to farmers whose crops were damaged by unseasonal rains and hailstorm last month.

All opposition parties in the state, including the Congress, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Peasants and Workers' Party (PWP) have extended support to the AIKS. Shiv Sena, which is the ruling alliance partner in the state, has also backed the agitation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 12, 2018 10:56 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).