Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana' known for mounting sharp attacks on the centre has yet again targeted PM Modi over the ongoing farmers' protest in the country. Taking a dig at PM Modi over his UAE and Qatar visits, a Saamana editorial on Thursday said that the PM has left the protesting farmers in the lurch while he was engrossed in the ecstasy of 'Ahlan Modi' in Abu Dhabi.
In an editorial titled 'Kisaan Adhar Mein, Pradhan Mantri Safar Mein' the Shiv Sena mouthpiece stated that the farmers are trapped in Delhi because of the centre's dictatorial attitude and in Maharashtra because of the unusual weather conditions and cyclones.
More than 200 farmers' unions from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana are protesting in what's being termed 'Delhi Chalo 2.0 protest'. The protestors have reached the Delhi-NCR borders to press for their demands. Saamana called it a 'confrontation of the dictatorial rule of Delhi to demand justice and freedom from oppression'. The protesting farmers are being stopped by rubber bullets, tear gas firing, lathi charges, cement and wired barricades, and multiple levels of blockades that have been installed to prevent them from marching into the national capital.
Meanwhile, the farmers of Maharashtra are facing a different type of turmoil in the form of an untimely hailstorm. The last few years have been challenging for the Maharashtrian farmers as cyclones, hailstorms, and unseasonal rains wreaked havoc and destroyed their crops completely.
The editorial also urged people to not place their trust in the nature and assurances of the government. The districts of Marathawada, Nagar, and Vidarbha have been badly hit by unseasonal rain and hailstorms. After a storm destroyed the Rabi crop, farmers, who had been facing the brunt of drought for years, were hit hard. The crops in Maharashtra's Amravati, Wardha, Nagpur, Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gondia, and Yavatmal districts have suffered the most because of hailstorms. The affected crops include cotton, gram, pea, wheat, soybean, sorghum, and gram, among other vegetables and gardens, Saamana reported.
The Meteorological Department has warned that the bad weather will continue for two more days. Earlier in the beginning of the year, the delayed rains ruined the Kharif crops in many places and later, heavy rains washed away the crops in some districts. The bad weather conditions have now destroyed the Rabi crop and have left farmers to helplessly witness their harvestable crop getting ruined in front of their eyes.
Saamana reported that the state rulers will announce government assistance again but the Maharashtrian farmers are yet to receive the Kharif crop insurance money. It further targeted the Centre and state [Maharashtra] government for "focusing only on breaking the Opposition parties and leaders" and "being clueless about the compensation for the farmers".