In a major victory for the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government in the state, agitating farmers have decided to call off their long march.
This follows assurances given by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on the floor of the legislature on Friday regarding remunerative prices for onions, compensation for farmers hit by unseasonal rains and cultivation of forest land.
General secretary of the Maharashtra unit of the Akil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha Ajit Navale told FPJ on Saturday that the protest has been called off and that farmers who had reached upto Vasind in Thane district have started returning to their homes in Nashik.
Political victory for CPIM
The ABKS is affiliated to the Communist Party of India (CPIM). Even though the party does not have a strong political base in the state, it enjoys good sway over the farmers in certain pockets of the state.
The success of the march is a political victory for both the CPIM and the state government. Both Shinde and Fadnavis handled the situation with tremendous maturity and empathy. The farmers had embarked on the long march from Nashik to Mumbai under conditions of extreme heat. One of them died in the process.
