Congress farmers' protest in Chimur takes to streets with tractors, bullock carts

Farmers, farm labourers and ordinary citizens took to the streets in Chimur against the ruling party under a Congress protest march. The large rally was taken out from the Chimur Panchayat Samiti to the tehsil office.

Leader of the Opposition in the legislature Vijay Wadettiwar joined the march and directly attacked local MLA Bunty Bhangadia. He alleged that the ruling party was preoccupied with contracts while ignoring farmers' concerns.

Wadettiwar said farmers are in crisis, youth face unemployment, inflation has broken the back of the common man, and the working class is caught in the web of government policies, but the ruling party is more interested in contracts than in people's problems. He questioned what a "contractor MLA" who profits from contracts could understand of the public's hardships.

The Congress protest march in Chimur became a public platform for anger against the ruling party. Farmers, farm labourers, workers, women, youth and ordinary citizens joined the march in large numbers, bringing tractors and bullock carts.

Addressing the crowd at the tehsil office, Wadettiwar sharply criticised the government's functioning. He said farmers wait for compensation despite paying crop insurance premiums, and run from office to office when their crops are damaged, while those in power settle accounts over contracts in the name of development.

Wadettiwar warned, "Those to whom the people handed power, instead of healing the people's wounds, have observed a vow of silence in the legislature for the last twelve years while pursuing their own political interests, and the people will not stay silent." He also said that over the past ten years he had himself worked to bring 80 percent of irrigation coverage under the Gosikhurd project in the Brahmapuri area, delivering justice to the people.

Wadettiwar further alleged that, acting like a contractor MLA, Bhangadia had done nothing except hand out road contracts to favoured workers and enrich them. He said "we practise service, not contracting."

Addressing the march, state Youth Congress general secretary Shivani Wadettiwar said the Chimur MLA had done more than just secure contracts, alleging he had occupied a house meant for the poor in Nagpur, against which legal action is under way. She said several works under the Jal Jeevan Mission are stalled in the Chimur area while the ruling MLA stays silent. She said roads in the area remain incomplete and people's work is not getting done, describing this as the current state of the Chimur assembly constituency.

Congress said Chimur taluka is facing drought-like conditions, with losses to the soyabean and cotton crops, and farmers are burdened by crop insurance compensation delays and debt. The march raised demands including crop insurance compensation, declaring Chimur taluka drought-hit, crop loan waivers, clearing the "satbara" land records, a paddy bonus, and immediate implementation of announced grants.

The protest was attended by Youth Congress state general secretary Shivani Wadettiwar, advocate Dushyant Kirsan, son of Chimur-Gadchiroli MP Dr Kirsan, Congress functionaries Vijay Gawande, Professor Ram Raut, Juned Khan, Vijay Gharat, Gajanan Butke, Dhanraj Mugle, Kishore Shingre, Vivek Kapse, Khojram Marskolhe, Vinod Borkar, Raju Lonare and Irfan Khan, along with all taluka Congress cell office-bearers, workers and corporators.

The tractors and bullock carts brought by farmers were a key feature of the march. Large numbers of people arrived from rural areas, with notable participation from women and youth.