The winter session of Maharashtra legislature begins in Nagpur from today , amid protests over farm distress and delayed implementation of the state’s farm loan waiver.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to face challenges from the opposition Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as well as ally Shiv Sena over distress in the farm sector during the 10-day session that ends on 22 December.
Vidarbha Rajya Andolan Samiti (VRAS), an organization demanding a separate state of Vidarbha, has called for a Vidarbha bandh (shutdown) on the first day of the session to protest against the BJP-led government’s failure to address the statehood demand. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is from Nagpur in Vidarbha, supported the demand earlier but has lately put the ball in the centre’s court.
The Rs34,022 crore farm loan waiver that Fadnavis announced on 24 June became controversial for its slow implementation and discrepancies in lists of beneficiaries.
Last week, Fadnavis tweeted that the government had released Rs19,537 crore to the banks in loan waiver benefits to more than 4.1 million farmers till 8 December. The government has identified 5.6 million farmers as those eligible beneficiaries of loan waiver, one-time settlement, incentive for timely repayment of loans, and restructuring of loans.
Fadnavis also told a meeting of the state level bankers committee which is a joint forum of all banks to form coordination teams and sort out the problems.
However, the opposition has rejected these figures, asking the government to release the names of farmers who have received the benefits.
The NCP launched a ‘Halla Bol’ protest in Vidarbha on 1 December to highlight the failures of the Fadnavis government, including the “non-implementation” of loan waiver. On 12 December, NCP chief Sharad Pawar will lead a Congress-NCP protest march to the legislature building in Nagpur over farm distress.
Opposition parties expect to set the tone of the winter session by mobilizing a large crowd of farmers on the second day. A BJP minister, who did not want to be named, said a big turnout for the protest could be embarrassing for the government, in particular for Fadnavis. Senior NCP leaders have virtually camped in Vidarbha over the last 10 days to build the tempo and generate farmers’ support for the protest march.
