Maha: Thousands of farmers to reach Mumbai for Jan 25 rally

Thousands of farmers have leftfrom various parts of Maharashtra to participate in a rally atthe Azad Maidan in Mumbai on Monday against the Centre's threenew farm laws.

The All India Kisan Sabha's (AIKS) Maharashtra unit ina statement said around 15,000 farmers set out for the statecapital from Nashik on Saturday in several tempos and othervehicles.

On Monday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and some otherprominent leaders of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in thestate will address the rally, the release said.

The state Congress unit, which is an ally of the MVA,has already extended its support to the protest.

Farmers from various places gathered in Nashik andleft from there on Saturday. Many peasants also joined them onthe way, the AIKS said.

They halted at Ghatandevi near Igatpuri hill town forovernight stay.

On Sunday morning, a number of peasants marched downthe Kasara Ghat to head for Mumbai, while many left invehicles.

''The rally is being held to support and expand thetwo-month-long farmers' struggle in Delhi for a repeal of thethree farm laws and for a central law to guarantee aremunerative Minimum Support Price (MSP) and procurement allover the country,'' the statement said.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a pro-farmer body, hasgiven a nationwide call for a struggle from January 23 to 26,including rallies to Raj Bhavans (governor houses) in states.

Accordingly, over 100 organisations came together andformed the Samyukta Shetkari Kamgar Morcha (SSKM),Maharashtra, in a meeting held in Mumbai on January 12.

The SSKM has called for a joint sit-inat the AzadMaidan in Mumbai from January 24 to 26.

On January 25, there will be a public meeting at 11am, the release said.

Besides NCP chief Pawar, state Congress president andrevenue minister Balasaheb Thorat, and Shiv Sena leader andstate tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray will also address therally, it said.

Later, the protesters will march to the Raj Bhavan andsubmit a memorandum to Governor B S Koshyari.

The main demands of the protesters include repeal ofthe three ''anti-farmer'' laws, and a central law guaranteeingremunernative MSP and procurement, the release said.

The protesters have also decided to hoist the nationalflag at the Azad Maidan on the occasion of the Republic day onJanuary 26, and take a pledge to make the struggle of peasantsand workers successful, it added.

Enacted in September last year, the three laws havebeen projected by the Centre as major reforms in theagriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allowfarmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana andwestern Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several borderpoints of Delhi, demanding a repeal of the three farm laws.

Multiple rounds of talks between the government andfarmer unions have failed to break the impasse so far, whilethe Supreme Court has appointed a panel for resolution of theissue.