Shiv Sena, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna spearhead Maharashtra shutdown

MUMBAI: Parts of the state were paralysed after a state-wide bandh called by different groups in Maharashtra saw several shops and markets shut, even as the Maharashtra government hardened its stand over those agitating for a farm loan waiver.

The BJP allies Shiv Sena and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna (SSS) actively participated in the strike.

Shiv Sena workers were involved in forcing shopkeepers in Beed and other places to shut their shops. A new steering committee to lead the farmers agitation has been formed which has Raju Shetti who heads the SSS as one of the core committee members. Rural areas in Nashik, Hingoli, Indapur, Parbhani,Kolhapur, Solapur and in Ahmednagar saw an enthusiastic response to bandh call.

Most of the state’s Agricultural Produce Market Committees where farmers sell most of their produce was completely shut. The response was lukewarm in cities like Pune, Kolhapur and Solapur. Due to road blockades, traffic arrangements went haywire on the Nagpur-Tuljapur road, Pune-Bangalore and Baramati-Indapur highway. Several state transport buses were vandalised in Osmanabad and there were incidents of trucks and tempos being stopped in many parts of the state.

Incidentally, the Kisan Kranti Morcha (KKM), an amalgam of different farmers groups that had initially called the strike last week, had called off the agitation after a meeting with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday.

The KKM had called of the strike after Fadnavis promised that they would go for a loan waiver that would benefit 34 lakh farmers and cost the state Rs 30,000 crore. Other farmers groups, however, decided to continue to lead the agitation. Fadnavis on Monday said his government would speak to the farmers but not to those who are politically using it to their advantage.