Shiv Sena plans ‘dhol bajao’ protest on July 10 to ensure Maharashtra farmers get loan waiver

The Shiv Sena plans to turn the heat on the government over implementing the loan waiver with a ‘dhol bajao andolan’ (protest by beating drums) across the state.

The Bharatiya Janata Party ally has taken to the streets against its own government to back farmers in their demand for a loan waiver and jumped to take credit once it was sanctioned.

The ‘dhol bajao aandolan’ will see party members, legislators and parliamentarians assemble outside district central cooperative banks all over Maharashtra on July 10, pounding drums. The party’s intention is to make enough noise for the banks to disclose lists of farmers who will benefit from the state government’s loan waiver scheme. Office bearers of the party in every district will also give write to the chairman of every district cooperative bank to release the list of farmers whose loans will be waived.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday met all district chiefs and the party’s contact points across the state to firm up the plan. A Sena leader said, “He told us that the fight was not over yet, and we should not trust any figures that the government gave us. We were also told to keep an eye on cases where farmers fitted the bill but were denied help.”

Additionally, Thackeray instructed members from the Sena’s consumer protection wing to sit outside district banks to help farmers.

After protests by farmers across the state, Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis last month sanctioned Rs 34,022 crore as loan waiver for farmers.The scheme will benefit 89 lakh farmers in the state and make 40 lakh completely debt-free. After welcoming the scheme initially and taking credit for it, the Sena adopted a more cautious stance with Thackeray demanding a list of all the farmers who will be rid of debt and a change in a few eligibility norms.