Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis shown black flags over loan waiver demand

Sangli: Workers of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna, a partner in the BJP-led Maharashtra government showed black flags to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis here to protest state’s apathy towards farmers’ woes. [caption id=“attachment_3458518” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. PTI[/caption] Fadnavis was inaugurating the newly built Central building of Sangli Collector office in Visharambag area. According to Sangli police, a group of SSS workers waived black flags while he was leaving the premises in his car accompanied by SSS leader and Minister of State for Agriculture, Sadabhau Khot. Four SSS men were detained following the protest, said Deepali Kale, DYSP, Sangli Police. Led by MP Raju Shetty, SSS of late has been at loggerheads with the BJP over its loan waiver demand and Tur crisis in the state. Earlier, SSS spokesperson Yogesh Pandey said in a release here that complete loan waiver for farmers of Maharashtra has been their primary demand but in was not addressed in the recently concluded budget session. Despite being aware of the bumper production of Tur, the government failed to make necessary arrangements for speedy procurement and farmers were forced to sell their produce at a much lower price than what the government fixed at Rs 5,050 per quintal, he said. Fadnavis was last week shown black flags by some Youth Congress activists during his visit to Osmanabad district in North Maharashtra over state BJP president Raosaheb Danve’s controversial remarks against Tur growers.