Gujarat cops put brakes on Bacchu Kadu's yatra

Mumbai: Bacchu Kadu, independent Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Achalpur, Maharashtra, recently grabbed headlines with a controversial statement on BJP Member of Parliament (MP) Hema Malini. He’s still making headlines, this time for leading Vidarbha’s farmers to Modi’s birthplace to highlight their plight and remind the prime minister of his poll promise.

However, Mr Kadu , who is leading the famers on a 11-day “Aasud Yatra” from Nagpur to Vadnagar, was stopped by Gujarat police from stepping into the state. He along with 150 of his associates was detained but was later released upon entering Maharashtra.

Mr. Kadu called this arrest a “murder of democracy in Modi’s Gujarat”.

The idea behind selecting the cities for the yatra was to draw the attention of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Mr. Modi to various issues being faced by farmers. Vidarbha has witnessed the largest number of farmers’ suicides in recent times.

Thursday was the eleventh day of Mr. Kadu’s whip yatra and he had travelled almost 1,500 km in Maharashtra before entering Gujarat. In the morning, when Mr. Kadu crossed Nandurbar district in Maharashtra to enter Tapi district of Gujarat, he was stopped by Tapi police. He was detained with his workers in Varod police station of Tapi district.

“Farmers from Maharashtra as well as the entire country are dying for their demands. We are not getting MSPs promised by Modi. And if we protest against him, his police arrest us. Isn’t it the murder of democracy?” he questioned.

Mr. Kadu’s organisation PRAHAR is known for the raising cause of farmers and backward classes of society. He has been a controversial MLA over the years with various incidents of scuffles with officers and government employees.