AIKS-led 1,300 Km-long Maharashtra Farmers' Vehicle Jatha for Delhi began from Nashik on the evening of December 21 with a rousing public meeting and send-off by thousands of people.

The jatha is being led up to Delhi by AIKS president- Ashok Dhawale, former state president- J P Gavit, ex-MLA, state president- Kisan Gujar, state general secretary- Ajit Nawale, state office bearers- Sunil Malusare, Irfan Shaikh, Umesh Deshmukh, Arjun Adey, Uday Narkar, Uddhav Poul, Shankar Sidam and other AIKS leaders.

The AIKS, CITU, AIAWU, AIDWA, DYFI and SFI in Maharashtra have taken very active part in all stages of the farmers' struggle, beginning from the nationwide workers strike and farmers road blockades on November 26, the solidarity actions on December 3 and 5, and the Bharat Bandh on December 8. The AIKS Maharashtra Jatha from Nashik to Delhi was aimed at further broadening and intensifying the nationwide struggle.

ROUSING SEND-OFF IN NASHIK

The public meeting at the Golf Club Maidan, Nashik, paid homage to the 33 farmers who have been martyred in the struggle around Delhi during the last three weeks.

The public meeting condemned the Modi-Shah-led BJP regime for its utterly insensitive and obstinate policies targeting peasants and workers to further enrich the corporates, both Indian and foreign. Effigies of corporates-Ambani and Adani were publicly burnt and a call given to boycott their goods and services.

The highlight of the public meeting was the speech of CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala and AIKS joint secretary- K K Ragesh. He had fought tooth and nail against the three Farm Bills in Parliament, and in 2018 he had also placed two seminal Bills in the Rajya Sabha on behalf of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) - one for Freedom from Debt and the other for Guarantee of MSP at one and a half times the cost of production.

Along with the main AIKS leaders mentioned above, others who addressed the public meeting were CPI(M) state secretary- Narasayya Adam, PWP general secretary-Jayant Patil, MLC, CPI leader-Raju Desale, former Congress state minister-Shobha Bachchav, AIDWA general secretary-Mariam Dhawale, CITU vice president-D L Karad, CPI(M) MLA from Dahanu-Vinod Nikole, RPI leader-Ganesh Unawane, AIAWU state general secretary-Baliram Bhumbe, AIDWA state president-Naseema Shaikh, DYFI state general secretary-Preethy Sekhar, SFI state vice president-Nitin Wavhale, and other local leaders.

The large vehicle jatha of cars, tempos and buses was enthusiastically greeted on the way by hundreds of people at Ozar, Pimpalgaon Baswant and Shirwade villages before camping for the night at Chandwad, where it was given another rousing reception by hundreds AIKS-led peasants.

MASSIVE PEOPLE'S RECEPTIONS IN MAHARASHTRA

On December 22, the AIKS jatha received massive receptions from thousands of people in the cities of Chandwad, Malegaon, Dhule and Shirpur, and also in scores of villages along the route.

In Malegaon, which had seen the bomb blasts in 2006; in which Pragya Singh Thakur and Prasad Purohit are accused, and in Dhule, which had seen communal riots engineered by the RSS-BJP in 2008 and again in 2013, thousands of people came on to the streets to welcome the AIKS jatha. They belonged to all religions, castes and classes. It was a spontaneous outburst of people's support for the ongoing nationwide farmers' struggle. This support was also seen earlier in Maharashtra in the Bharat Bandh on December 8.

There were large public meetings at Malegaon and Shirpur attended by thousands of people. Everywhere along the jatha route, there was great anger against the Modi-Shah-led BJP central government and its corrupt nexus with the Ambani-Adani-led Indian and foreign corporate lobby. Speeches in the jatha underlined that this nexus was the real source of the three Farm Acts, the four Labour Codes and the Electricity Amendment Bill. Along with the main demand of a repeal of the three Farm Acts and the withdrawal of the Electricity Bill, the demand for a law to guarantee MSP with actual procurement at one and a half times the full cost of production (C2 + 50 per cent) was also stressed everywhere.

The anger of the people was further intensified by the complete callousness with which the BJP regime was dealing with the historic struggle of lakhs of farmers led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) sitting for the last 28 days in biting cold around Delhi, a struggle that has already claimed 33 kisan lives. The efforts of the BJP regime to defame and divide the farmers' struggle was also denounced.

WIDE POLITICAL SUPPORT

One of the highlights of this AIKS jatha in Maharashtra was the full support extended to it by all the non-BJP political parties. They included all three parties in the ruling Mahavikas Aghadi - Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress - and also SP, JD(S), BSP, RPI, BVA and of course the three Left Parties - CPI(M), CPI and PWP. Their leaders welcomed the AIKS jatha at several places and also made arrangements for its food, water and stay. Many other social organisations and NGOs also extended support.

Several activists of CITU in Nashik, led by D L Karad, accompanied the Jatha up to the Maharashtra border. CITU state secretary and CPI(M) MLA from Dahanu, Vinod Nikole, and leading comrades like DYFI state general secretary-Preethy Sekhar and SFI state vice president-Kavita Vare were with the jatha till the Maharashtra border.

ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION IN MADHYA PRADESH

The AIKS Jatha entered Madhya Pradesh on December 23 morning and was enthusiastically welcomed at the Sendhu border by hundreds of activists of the NAPM and Narmada Bachao Andolan, led by Medha Patkar. It was then given a rousing reception by hundreds of workers of the Century Mills at Nimad in Khargon district. These valiant workers have been waging a three-year long satyagraha against the closure of this mill in October 2017. The reception was also attended by their wives and children in large numbers. It was then given another good public reception at Khalghat in Dhar district. NAPM leader Medha Patkar and activists were with the jatha right up to here. It will cross through MP the whole day and will reach Kota in Rajasthan. From here it will head for Shahjahanpur at the Rajasthan-Haryana border.

The AIKS Maharashtra Jatha began in Nashik with over 2,000 farmers in over 100 vehicles. Some of them came right up to the Maharashtra border for two days till December 22 night and then returned. Now there are around 1000 peasants in the AIKS Jatha to Delhi, with over 50 vehicles heading towards Delhi.

The AIKS Jatha has received excellent coverage in both print and electronic media, and of course in all sections of the social media.