Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government was embarrassed on Tuesday as ally and leader of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Raju Shetty, held protests against the government over the price and procurement of onion and tur in the state.
Mr Shetty tried to hold an agitation against the government in front of Vidhan Bhavan, Nariman Point, when the police detained him for some time.
Onion and tur farmers are angry as the onion market has crashed and tur despite, huge production, is not being procured enough by the government.
Mr Shetty’s party being a party of farmers, is holding agitations across the state and specially in North Maharashtra and Marathwada. Mr Shetty, a Member of Parliament, has been speaking against the government over the issues for quite some time. In order to get his demands heard, Mr Shetty reached Vidhan Bhavan on Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning when the session was about to start, Mr Shetty and his supporters started an agitation in front of Vidhan Bhavan premises. They threw onions and tur on the road and shouted slogans against the state government.
When asked how he could agitate if his party is in alliance with BJP, he said, “We are with farmers and it is a fact that they are not getting price for their hard work. We are constantly demanding minimum support price to be followed for onions and more procurement centres for tur. But we have to hit the roads as government did not accept our demands.”
Simultaneously, there was also a buzz that Mr Shetty is locked in an internal battle with a leader of his party and minister of state Sadabhau Khaot. Mr Khot is close to the current dispensation and it is said Mr Shetty is being cornered in the party that he leads.
However, Mr Shetty denied such reports. He said, “Mr Khot is trying to get things done through his ministry. We are trying to get justice by agitation.” Mr Khot also said the agitation was not against his ministry. “I am pushing farmer’s demands in government. We will try to compensate farmers through different schemes,” he said.
