Vikhe-Patil tears into BJP-backed farmers’ union

Taking pot shots at Swabhiman Shetakari Sanghatana (SSS) — a farmers’ union based in Kolhapur — leader of the Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said that despite being part of the ruling BJP government, the organisation is not keen to fight for the issues faced by producers of soybean, onion and milk. He demanded that the state conduct a panchnama of these yields to ensure that the farmers concerned get the benefit of compensation.

Member of Parliament Raju Shetty, who founded SSS, is an ally of the Narendra Modi-led Union government. His colleague, Sadabhau Khot, is a minister of state for agriculture in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government. Referring to the active participation of SSS at the Union and state government levels, Mr Vikhe-Patil criticised the organisation for not raising its voice in the corridors of power in favour of farmers.

Mr Vikhe-Patil was addressing a rally at Shirdi in Ahmednagar on Tuesday, where he also said: “The BJP has changed the names of schemes that were brought in by our (Congress) government. But even though they have changed the names, the aim and the targeted beneficiaries of these schemes remain the same. This proves that the BJP is pushing the Congress’ policies and schemes and has failed to bring in any new schemes in over two years of its tenure in the Centre as well as in the state.”

Speaking on losses faced by the producers of soyabean, milk and onion, Mr Vikhe-Patil said that the government has to compensate these farmers. “Onion producers in the Nashik area were selling onions at a mere 5 paise per kg. This is shameful on the government’s part. Since farmers are committing suicide, the state should waive off their loans on a priority basis,” he said.

He added, “The state government is destroying sugar mills as well as market committees. It has revoked the export policy for sugar and, hence, the loans that sugar mills owe ultimately could not be restructured.”