Shiv Sena (UBT) slams MahaYuti over farmers’ plight; says Vikhe-Patil’s remark exposes hypocrisy, insults farmers

Mumbai, Nov 11 The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led MahaYuti government in Maharashtra, accusing it of apathy and deceit over its unfulfilled promise of a complete farm loan waiver.

In a strongly worded editorial in Saamana, the Sena (UBT) stated that the leaders of the ruling alliance are being exposed day by day for their lack of concern for farmers, particularly due to their insensitive statements. The latest example, it said, was the statement of Water Resources Minister and BJP leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, who at an event in Pandharpur, mocked the demand for farm loan waiver, saying, “Form a cooperative society, take a loan, get it waived, and then again demand loan waiver. This has been going on for many years.”

The Thackeray camp criticised Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, stating that his statement exposes the hypocrisy and deceit of the ruling dispensation once again. It is not only insulting the farmers, but also bringing the lies to the fore again.

“Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil’s venom is terrifying. So if some enraged, poor, debt-laden farmer responds to a call given by a farmer leader Bachchu Kadu -- ‘Smash Vikhe-Patil’s car and get a reward of one lakh rupees’ -- then how can that farmer be the one at fault?” asked the editorial pointedly.

The Thackeray camp said that the relief package for flood-hit farmers recently announced by the state government was not acceptable, as the complete farm loan waiver is the only solution to rebuild and revive farmers reeling under huge financial stress.

It further added that the loan waiver is not a favour from the government but is a necessity for farmers and also their right as the annadatas (food providers) of the nation.

“During the Assembly election campaign, these very people had promised farmer loan waivers. But after getting elected, their mouths are sewn shut. The same tongues that hesitate to even utter the ‘L’ of loan waiver grow longer when mocking farmers. Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil has done exactly that. Are these people really farmers? They are cooperative barons. So how would they ever understand the agony of ordinary debt-ridden farmers or the families of farmers who were forced to end their lives due to debt?” asked the editorial.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena said that farmers’ expectation of the complete loan waiver is not unreasonable at all. Whether kharif or rabi, every year, erratic weather snatches away the crop that was almost in their hands. Often, even re-sowing goes waste. As a result, their mountain of debt keeps growing. On top of that, government compensation or crop insurance amounts are quite paltry.

“People in power like Vikhe-Patil neither acknowledge this need nor accept the right to loan waiver. Yet these same people build their sugar factories on government capital. Later, due to mismanagement and corruption, those factories fall into distress. Then they take fresh loans from the government. Still, the factories shut down. These very people then buy those closed sugar factories for peanuts. And to run them, they again extract thousands of crores in loans from the government,” it added.

According to the editorial, the sugar factories that politicians started in the name of farmers -- every one of those politicians became sugar barons. Later, using that wealth, they became education barons and so on.

“Their political crops flourished on that very foundation. But the ordinary sugarcane grower, in whose name all this was done, remains exactly where he was. Even today, he doesn’t get a fair price for his sugarcane. Had he received a fair price, he wouldn’t have needed to form cooperative societies, wouldn’t have become debt-ridden, and people like Vikhe-Patil wouldn’t have had the courage to mock him over loan waivers,” it said.

The editorial further alleged that leaders of the ruling parties were involved in shady land deals worth Rs 1,800 crore while mocking farmers’ demands. “The Deputy Chief Minister questions how everything can be free, the Chief Minister keeps deferring loan waivers with ‘date after date’, and now their Water Resources Minister adds salt to farmers’ wounds with his taunts,” it said.

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