BJP ally Raju Shetti skips meeting Amit Shah in Mumbai

Mumbai city news: Shetti decided to skip meeting BJP national president Amit Shah on Friday. After joining the farmers protet in the state, he has now declared that he will participate in the national farmers’ agitation, which will start from July 6 in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh.

  

BJP national president Amit Shah with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis visit Swatantryavir Savarkar Rashtriya Udyaan at Shivaji Park, Dadar, in Mumbai on Friday.(Pratik Chorge/HT)

After trouble with the Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing opposition from another ally, Swabhimani Paksha, headed by farmers’ leader Raju Shetti.

Shetti decided to skip meeting BJP national president Amit Shah on Friday. After joining the farmers protest in the state, he has now declared that he will participate in the national farmers’ agitation, which will start from July 6 in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh. The participating farmers will demand for better crop prices and loan waivers.

Mandsaur has been witnessing a stir after violent agitations, in which six farmers died in a police firing last week.

Shah is on a three-day tour in Mumbai as part of the party’s preparation for the Presidential election scheduled next month. The BJP president met two of its allies on Friday — Mahadev Jankar of Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and Vinayak Mete of Shiv Sangram. Shah is scheduled to meet Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday to discuss the issue.

All major organisations representing farmers in the country have called a meeting on Friday to decide on the course of action for the farmers’ agitation demanding loan waiver and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, which suggests higher minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

“I had been invited to meet Amit Shah but because I am a farmers’ leader, a meeting protecting their interests was more important to me,” Shetti said after attending a meeting of farmers’ organizations in Delhi.

“We have now decided to start Janjagruti Yatra (an awareness campaign) from July 11 to unite farmers from all the states and fight for their rights. It will conclude on October 2 at Champaran in Bihar. Mahatma Gandhi had started his Satyagraha movement there for farmers in 1917,” he added.

On October 2, the country will celebrate 100 years of Chamapran Satyagraha.

Shetti was inducted as member of the core committee formed to make the movement a success.

“When the Prime Minister talks about waiving farmers’ loans in Uttar Pradesh, he will also have to consider farmers in other states. We demand loan waivers for all farmers,” he said.