Sangli farmer travels to Mumbai
To draw the attention of the Fadnavis government
At a time when there is a lot of heartburn in Maharashtra over farmers loan waiver, there is a farmer from Sangli who has come all the way to Mumbai create awareness on the woes of farmers.
Vijay Badaso Jadhav, a senior citizen a Sangli district-based farmer has come all the way to Mumbai on an interesting journey which is to meet important politicians to make them raise the problems of farmers in Mumbai.
He began with reaching the doorstep of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and demanded him to ensure the loans of farmers are waived off. He has driven on a two-wheeler on which he has kept an effigy resembling a dead body of a farmer. He has placards with messages and the demands that he has written. “I want the bullock cart race to be restarted, like they did in Tamil Nadu. Moreover, I want people to understand the problems we farmers face and the problems we go through,” Jadhav said.
Thackeray did not give a meeting to Jadhav who submitted a letter and was instead communicated an assurance by his Personal Assistant, “Saheb said he will raise his voice for the farmers.”
Jadhav shared his experience of undertaking this tiring journey from Sangli to Mumbai. “I started this campaign four days ago from Sangli and I have just reached Mumbai. I have been running from pillar to post in this scorching heat of Mumbai which now has tired me. My feet too are swollen,” said Jadhav. He however has not given up on getting justice. “I have hopes that my concerns will be addressed here,” Jadhav said.
Jadhav has asked the Maharashtra government to lift the ban of bullock cart races in Sangli and demanded that the farmers’ loans be waived. He has also accused the Chief Minister Devender Fadnavis of being indifferent to the woes of the farmers. “Fadnavis has turned a blind eye to us farmers and the problems we face since he took over as the chief minister,” lamented Jadhav.
Jadhav added, “I heard once that Fadnavis spoke of the problems of the farmers in Nagpur but that time he was in the opposition. Since he has became a CM he has stopped thinking about us farmers. The government has waived off Vijay Mallya’s Rs 9,000 crore. He did not commit suicide here the number of farmers committing suicide is increasing owing to the increasing debt.”
Jadhav is going to organise a protest at Azad Maidan to press for his demands and will seek meeting with Fadnavis on Wednesday.