THE massive two-day march of over 55 Km by 50,000 farmers, which was organised by the CPI(M) from Charoti to Palghar in Maharashtra between January 19 and 21, 2026, ended on the night of January 21 after the Palghar District Collector Dr Indu Rani Jakhar held a seven-hour marathon discussion with a large CPI(M) delegation and finally conceded most of the demands in writing within a time frame. It was only after this that CPI(M) leaders Dr Ashok Dhawale, Vinod Nikole MLA, and Kiran Gahala announced the suspension of the struggle, amidst a massive celebration of victory by thousands of people.

This struggle received the complete and active support of the Palghar units of the AIKS, CITU, AIDWA, DYFI, SFI, and Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM). In this powerful movement, tens of thousands of women and men, young and old, from all eight tehsils of Palghar district – Dahanu, Talasari, Jawhar, Mokhada, Vikramgad, Wada, Vasai, and Palghar – participated with great enthusiasm. The vast majority of them were Adivasi tribals.

POSITIVE RESPONSE TO LOCAL ISSUES

In the negotiations with the government, the District Collector took a positive stance on the problems faced in the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA). She agreed to resolve all pending FRA claims by April 30, 2026, and issued concrete orders to that effect. It was also decided that the lands of the many farmer claimants who received much less land than they were cultivating would be physically inspected by government officials on the ground.

At the same time, it was agreed to take time-bound action to register landlords' lands, temple lands, inam lands, government lands, pasture lands and benami lands in the names of the actual tillers. For this purpose, it was decided that five leaders from the CPI(M) and AIKS would be part of a committee which would be immediately formed, to be chaired by the Additional District Collector. It was also reported that the state government would soon enact a law regarding temple and inam lands, and the draft of that Bill was given to the delegation. As promised during the Akole to Loni march in 2023, no action had yet been taken regarding landlords' lands. An assurance was given to take concrete action on this matter as well.

Demands relating to the right of locals to the water in the dams, priority for drinking and irrigation water, provision of employment guarantee work, implementation of the PESA Act and recruitment of young men and women to vacant posts, houses for the needy under the housing scheme, pending works of the Jal Jeevan Mission, corruption in the ration system, and issues related to appointment of teachers in Zilla Parishad schools were also accepted.

STRONG OPPOSITION TO CENTRAL GOVERNMENT POLICIES

During the March, an insistent demand was made to cancel the Wadhvan and Murbe port projects in the Dahanu tehsil of Palghar district, since they would destroy the livelihoods of tens of thousands of peasants and fisher people, and would only help to further fatten the super profits of Gautam Adani. Strong demands were also made to scrap the smart meter scheme which looted both rural and urban people by sharp increases in power tariffs, while greatly benefiting the corporates; to stop forced land acquisition from the peasantry by the government-corporate nexus, that too by flouting the LARR Act of 2013; to reinstate the MNREGA Act and repeal the new VB-G RAM G Act which ruthlessly attacks rural employment; and to repeal the four Labour Codes and re-instate the 29 earlier Labour Laws. All these four anti-corporate and pro-people demands are directly related to the central government. The Collector stated that the strong opposition of the CPI(M) on these issues would be conveyed to the central and state governments.

Although the Collector showed positive response regarding the burning issues of Palghar district, some vital issues related to the state government still remain unresolved, and it was decided to continue the struggle on those issues. This was immediately done through the huge Nashik to Mumbai March led by the CPI(M) and the AIKS, which began on January 25.  

The discussions with the Palghar District Collector were held by a delegation comprising Dr Ashok Dhawale, Vinod Nikole, MLA, Kiran Gahala, Prachi Hatiwlekar, Radka Kalangda, Laxman Dombre, Lahani Dauda, Sunita Shingda, Chandu Dhangda, and other district leaders. Mariam Dhawale, Vijoo Krishnan and Dr Ajit Nawale also participated in this movement.

SPIRITED RALLY AT BHIWANDI IN THANE DISTRICT

Building on the momentum of the victorious Long March in Palghar district, the CPI(M) organised another large rally in Thane district on January 23. More than 4,000 people from the Shahapur and Bhiwandi tehsils marched to the Bhiwandi Sub-Divisional Office (SDO). The rally highlighted long-standing issues, including access to forests, land rights, water, roads and education. Due to the big impact of the Palghar Long March, which had already drawn the attention of the administrative authorities in Thane, the talks were constructive. The authorities provided written, time-bound assurances on most of the district-level demands.

The Bhiwandi march was led by CPI(M) leaders from Thane-Palghar district, including Vinod Nikole, MLA, Kiran Gahala, Prachi Hatiwlekar, Radka Kalangda, Chandu Dhangda, Bharat Walamba, Chandrakant Ghorkhana, Prakash Choudhary, Ganesh Dumada, Vidyadhar Harvate, Sunil Chavan, Krishna Bhavar, P K Lali, Kamala Gattu, and others.

Both these actions in Palghar and Thane districts, coming on the heels of the 25,000-strong rally at Wada on October 10, 2025 to inaugurate the new Party office, and the 30,000-strong women’s rally at Dahanu on November 1, 2025 to mark the AIDWA state conference, have given a great boost to the independent activity and influence of the Party and mass fronts in these districts. It has been decided to hold meetings of the Party and mass fronts immediately in the beginning of February to decide on a series of effective follow-up measures.