Union Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat says the recent farmers’ march in Maharashtra was politically motivated.
Shekhawat told THE WEEK, “Some sections of farmers in Maharashtra were misguided by a political party to join their rally. This particular party is desperate for attention as the morale of their cadre is at an all-time low.”
He said majority of the farmers in the country are aware of the numerous schemes of the Union government to help farmers. “Even the Union budget this time was a farmer-friendly budget. Such a show of strength by a political party is not going to scare us,” said Shekhawat,
“We have schemes that will revive agricultural sector and double income of farmers in a few years.” He said the Maharastra government and the Union government are working tirelessly for the welfare of the farmers of the country. “All that we have done for the farmers is out in the open. Our government is 24/7 with farmers,” said Shekhawat.
“The schemes look good in paper, but first, see the ground reality,” retorted Mohammed Salim, CPI(M) MP, to THE WEEK.
“This is a national issue and not confined to one state. The All India Kisan Sabha has held similar rallies in states like Rajasthan, but it was not noticed. Only because this time we marched to Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, that the media took note of us,” he argued. Salim said the CPI(M) will be organising a similar rally of farmers in Lucknow on March 15.
Around 50,000 farmers and tribals, who came together under the Left-associated All India Kisan Sabha, walked around 165km—from Nashik to Mumbai—demanding an unconditional loan waiver and transfer of forest land to tribals. The protests were called off after the Devendra Fadnavis-led NDA government in Maharashtra accepted their demands in writing.
The AIKS is planning to organise similar rallies in other states after the remarkable success of its march in Mumbai. The march in Lucknow, on March 15, is with the demand to implement the recommendations of the M.S. Swaminathan Committee—National Commission for Farmers—in the state.
The commission that suggested various reforms in the interests of farmers was constituted in 2004 under M.S. Swaminathan, an agricultural scientist. It had requested the government to provide minimum support price for grains and put agriculture in the concurrent list from the state list. Most of the suggestions of the commission, which is a thorough status paper on Indian agriculture, are yet to be implemented.
The march to Mumbai was supported by all political parties, including the Shiv Sena. The Congress chief in the state—Ashok Chavan—was, in fact, heard shouting ‘Lal Salaam’ at the rally.
Ashok Chavan did not respond to queries from THE WEEK.
“The CPI(M)’s rally did not take away the sheen from us. The issue is the problems faced by the farmers in the country,” said Nana Patole, vice president of the Congress in Maharastra, while interacting with THE WEEK.
“The Congress is also planning a similar rally of farmers in some days. It will be bigger than the rally organised by the CPI(M),” he said, “The assurance given by Fadnavis to the farmers was an eyewash. He gave the same assurance to another group of farmers some three months ago.”
Patole, who was a Lok Sabha member of the BJP, resigned from the party and joined the Congress just before the Gujarat Assembly elections. The reason he had cited was the failure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Fadnavis to address farmers’ issues. An OBC leader from Nagpur, Patole said Modi used his OBC identity only during elections and did not like taking questions from Patole.