Maharashtra Farmers’ ‘Vehicle March’ to Delhi Shows Growing Mass Mobilization Against Center Farm Laws

A previous farmer agitation in Maharashtra. Shrirang swarm

Farmers in Maharashtra will organize a vehicle march from Nashik to Delhi on Monday, in an upheaval that is expected to increase pressure on the central government.

Already caught in a bind by the protests, the Center faces the prospect of farmers in Maharashtra joining their counterparts in the northern states of Delhi in an upheaval that continues to gather steam.

This occurs even as the Maharashtra government led by Uddhav Thackeray has supported the protesters and has called the three new laws related to agriculture “unfair”. The Maharashtra government has formed a subcommittee to study the laws, and Finance Minister Balasaheb Thorat has been cited by PTI that the state government wants to formulate laws that ’empower farmers’.

‘Vehicle march’ and its meaning

Even earlier, many farmers in Maharashtra had voiced their opposition to the new agricultural laws. On Bharat Bandh Day, December 8, Agricultural Products Market Committees (APMC) remained closed in many parts of the state, as did retail stores.

However, Monday’s vehicle march is expected to involve large groups of farmers arriving in Delhi from distant Maharashtra, a view with which the Union government would be deeply uncomfortable.

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An article in The Hindu He has quoted All India Kisan Sabha National President Ashok Dhawale as saying that “thousands of farmers” from 20 Maharashtra districts will converge on Nashik on December 21 and then head towards Delhi. The AIKS has demanded the repeal of the agricultural laws and the guarantee of minimum prices to support one and a half times the cost of production.

Dhawale was also cited by Newsclick as if to say: “The farmers’ march from Nashik to Mumbai (the March 2018 Kisan march) had brought down the arrogance of the then government of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra. Now is the time for the Modi government. No other government in Indian history has fired tear gas at farmers and soaked them in the middle of winter. But these tricks have failed and farmers are still on the outskirts of Delhi. “

Like their counterparts currently agitating in and around Delhi, protesting Maharashtra farmers also appear to be prepared for the long term. An article in The New Indian Express He quoted Kisan Gurjar, a 71-year-old farmer, as saying that he is determined to stay in Delhi until the end of the protest, and that the farmers will bring enough food and other essential items with them.

Maharashtra farmers joining forces with protesting farmers in Delhi have at least two major implications. First, it is an indication that the deadlock between the Center and the agitators is likely to continue. While farmers want nothing less than a complete rollback of the laws, the Center has refused to do so. The Center has proposed watering down parts of the laws to allow states to impose market rates and decide who can be a buyer of agricultural products. However, these announcements have not been enough to allay farmers’ concerns.

Second, it also means that attempts by some BJP leaders to claim that agricultural protests are confined to Punjab, by linking the protests with ‘Khalistani’ elements, have borne fruit. In the early days of the protest, it could be argued that the protesting farmers were mostly from the states of Punjab and Haryana. However, in recent days, multiple reports have shown that farmers in other states such as Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have also been involved in the agitations against the new laws.

The planned march of vehicles from Nashik to Delhi on Monday is yet another indication that the ongoing mass mobilization is becoming a national phenomenon.