Farmers call off protest in Nagpur, will meet CM in Mumbai today

way2barak, October 30: Prahar Janashakti Party protesters have agreed to hold talks with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai on Thursday to press their demand for a complete farm loan waiver.

The decision came after a late-night meeting between farmer leaders and the chief minister’s emissaries—ministers of states Pankaj Bhoyar and Ashish Jaiswal—at the protest site on the highway on Wednesday night. Following the discussions and a telephonic conversation with revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Kadu announced that a delegation of farmer leaders would meet Fadnavis.

The Prahar Janshakti Party chief cautioned that if the government failed to announce a total loan waiver, the agitation would continue indefinitely. “If the demands are not met, we will intensify the agitation and launch a ‘Rail Roko’ protest from tomorrow,” he warned.

The agitation, which has paralysed traffic on the busy highway for two days, prompted the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court to take suo motu cognisance of the blockade on Wednesday. The court expressed serious concern over the hardship caused to the public, including commuters, patients, women and children, as traffic snarls stretched over 20 kilometres, affecting access to Nagpur Airport, the National Cancer Institute and the Samruddhi Mahamarg.