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Farmers’ conclave: CM Fadnavis ploughs into Raju Shetti’s patch
BJP took poll battle to Kolhapur with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announcing resolution to increase minimum support price (MSP) for sugar from ₹29 per kilogramme to ₹31 per kilogramme
As farmers’ leader Raju Shetti initiated dialogue with the Congress and smaller parties to fight the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in 2019 jointly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took the battle to his stronghold in Kolhapur and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a resolution to increase in the minimum support price (MSP) for sugar from ₹29 per kilogramme to ₹31 per kilogramme.
To take on Shetti, leader of the Swabhimani Shetkari Saghtana (SSS) which has a strong presence in western Maharashtra, the CM was present at a conclave of farmers and farm labourers in Warna Kodoli of Kolhapur district, organised by the Maharashtra minister of state for agriculture Sadabhau Khot, who was once a part of SSS.
At the farmers’ conclave, the chief minister praised Khot while taking on the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Congress and SSS. “Sadabhau Khot is a bridge between farmers and the government. Whatever resolutions have been passed at this conclave, the government promises to positively respond to them,” said Fadnavis adding that the state government will soon be sending a proposal to the Centre for increasing the MSP to ₹31 per kilogramme.
Fadnavis’ presence along with other BJP leaders at the conclave in Kolhapur district, known to be Shetti’s territory, raised eyebrows in the political circle as Shetti has been a bitter critique of the BJP government at the Centre and the state.
On August 8, SSS had expelled Khot from the party for taking a position against the party’s official line. It was Shetti who first broke his ties with BJP last year. In August 2017, Shetti quit the BJP-led NDA (national democratic alliance) alleging that the Narendra Modi-led government had failed to keep its word on the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations on MSP to farmers. Following his departure from the NDA, SSS has been at loggerheads with the BJP on several issues, including support price for farm produce and farm loan waiver.
Shetti had recently indicated that he would join hands with the Congress and smaller parties including Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh to contest the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
Taking a dig at Shetti, the chief minister said, parties having presence in Sangli and Kolhapur should not do politics as the BJP government is taking various decisions in the favour of farmers.
“From 2005 to 2014, the Swaminathan Commission report on farm prices was lying unattended with the government. It was the Narendra Modi government which implemented it. While opposition parties continued to criticise the government, MS Swaminathan himself wrote an article and thanked Modi.”
The Swaminathan Commission report aimed at improving sustainability of farming in India.
