NAGPUR: Left parties that have been at the forefront in the farmers’ protest in New Delhi are slowly trying to build a base in Vidarbha to get local farmers’ support.
The Left did not have any significant presence in Vidarbha. Even farmers of the region were indifferent during the initial days of the protests. Parties are claiming to be steadily getting support from farmers in general.
An umbrella organization of over 40 outfits has been formed to raise the issue among local farmers.
The All India Kisan Sabha (AKS), the farmers’ wing of CPM, which is at the forefront, has been holding village-level meetings across the region. Wardha has emerged as one of its upcoming bases.
Sources say the outfits already had a strong base in northern Maharashtra. Last month, AKS took a group of farm widows from Marathwada to Delhi to join the protests. There was none from Vidarbha in that group. Leaders said they could garner women from districts in other regions due to the organization’s good presence.
Later, another group was taken by Kishore Tiwari, the farm activist from Yavatmal, who now heads the Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavalaban Mission (VNSSM), a state government task force on farm crisis.
“There was hardly any response during the initial days of the protests in Delhi. However, now we see that the farmers of Vidarbha are also getting convinced,” said Yashwant Zade of AIKS in Wardha.
“Meetings are being held in every village to explain our stance. In Wardha, a group of farmers have been holding protests since at least a month. There is a plan to take out a motorcycle rally too,” he said. Zade said over 25,000 pamphlets have also been distributed in rural areas.
Rakesh Tikait, leader of the Bharitya Kisan Union from Uttar Pradesh and core committee member of Sanyukta Kisan Morcha, will be vesting Vidarbha on February 20. This is the second visit of the farm leader to Nagpur in two months.
Sources said the purpose of the visit is to show that the farmers’ protests is not just limited to northern states. Tikait, who will be landing in Nagpur, will also tour Wardha, Akola and Yavatmal. He will be meeting farmers right in their villages apart from addressing rallies in towns.
Calls will be made to local farmers to be ready to join the struggle in Delhi.
“It would be an attempt to send across a message that farmers from Maharashtra would be the first to benefit from the struggle. The focus will be on the demand for law on MSP. Farmers here will be told that those from Maharashtra will be among the first to benefit if the law is enacted,” said Sandeep Gidde-Patil from the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha.
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