Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana stages road blockade across state
The Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) on Sunday staged road blockades across western Maharashtra and districts in Marathwada demanding higher prices for the sugarcane crop.
He accused senior BJP minister for revenue Chandrakant Patil of attempting to crush the agitation by misusing his power.
The ‘chakka jam’ staged by the SSS resulted in traffic jams in several parts of Solapur district and a few talukas in Marathwada where agitators were seen raising slogans against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
However, with the impasse between sugar mill operators and farmers' representatives resolved for the crucial Kolhapur and Sangli districts, vital area in the State’s sugar belt on Saturday itself, the impact of the agitation was relatively muted.
“The sugarcane price control committee is infiltrated by sugarcane factory owners. So, how can farmers expect their arrears and fair prices in such a situation?” said Shetti, Member of Parliament from Hatkanangale, speaking in Osmanabad district.
Shetti further alleged that a number of sugar mill operators — including the factory in Solapur owned by Maharashtra Minister and senior BJP leader Subhash Deshmukh — had submitted false information to the Sugar Commissioner by claiming to have paid their pending dues to farmers.
“We shall not permit sugarcane crushing in such factories to go on,” he warned.
Dismissing Shetti’s agitation as a “political stunt”, his estranged associate and Minister of State for Agriculture, Sadabhau Khot said that the ‘chakka jam’ was being staged by Shetti and the SSS with an eye to the upcoming Parliamentary election.
The SSS is demanding an additional Rs 200 per ton to the current Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of Rs. 2750 per ton already set by sugar mill operators.