NCP to restart farm loan waiver protests in Maharashtra from January 16

This would be the second phase of ‘Halla Bol Andolan’ to be carried out by the party after a gap of a month

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has decided to restart its agitation against the Devendra Fadnavis government to demand a loan waiver for distressed farmers. On Thursday, the party announced the second leg of ‘Halla Bol Andolan’ from January 16 in Marathwada region, which saw many farmer suicides owing to drought.

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar. (Hindustan Times)

The NCP has been under criticism for its cordial relations with the BJP leadership. In the past, the party had also extended unsolicited support to the BJP to stabilise its government in the state after the BJP failed to get majority in 2014 assembly elections.

This would be the second phase of ‘Halla Bol Andolan’ to be carried out by the party after a gap of a month. In the first phase, the party had conducted an 11-day foot march covering many districts of Vidarbha region. “This will be a 16-day agitation that will start from Tuljapur of Osmanabad district and will end at Aurangabad on January 31 with a rally that will be addressed by NCP chief Sharad Pawar,” said NCP president Sunil Tatkare.

He said the government has failed to provide relief to farmers facing distress by declaring a loan waiver package with an extremely difficult online application process. “The process for providing loan waiver amount was sped up after we launched ‘Halla Bol Andolan’ in December. But farm loans are yet to be waived off. Also, the government has declared compensation to farmers who had faced huge losses owing to pest (pink bollworm) attack on the cotton crop. Again, the process for the same has not started yet,” he alleged.