Various farmer bodies met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis , but the talks failed.
A section of farmers in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district said they will go on an indefinite strike from Wednesday midnight protesting against various issues including their demand of a loan waiver. The strike call coincides with the Narendra Modi government's three year celebrations as part of which Maharashtra BJP leaders are fanning out across the state in a major farmer outreach programme called 'Shivar Samvad.'
On Tuesday, various farmer bodies of the state met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis , but the talks failed.
"Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will have a 'plan B' ready to face any situation if farmers stop sending vegetables and milk to Mumbai," news agency PTI quoted Maharashtra agriculture minister Pandurang Fundkar.
The farmers are demanding a complete waiver of farm loans, free electricity, appropriate remunerative prices for their produce, irrigation grants and higher price for milk and implementation of the MS Swaminathan Committee recommendations.
Lawmaker Raju Shetty, who heads Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathan, a farmers' body, led a march to Mumbai's Raj Bhavan on Wednesday. Mr Shetty marched from Pune to Mumbai demanding a better deal for farmers in Maharashtra that includes a crop loan waiver and better prices for agricultural produce.
"Farmers have been deceived in this country. Their trust has been hurt. I am also partly responsible for this and this is why I started this 'Atmaklesh Yatra' for repentance. Today is the 9th day and we are meeting the governor," Shetty told reporters.
The group has pegged the cost of a loan waiver to farmers at Rs 21 thousand crore. Apart from farmer, children of farmers who have committed suicide also participated in the march.
The Devendra Fadnavis government had been under severe fire from not only the opposition parties - Congress and NCP - but also its own allies - the Shiv Sena and the Shetti-led SSS.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)