Congress To Take out Halla Bol March to Maharashtra Legislature on Monday

Mumbai: The Congress will take out ‘Halla Bol’ march to Nagpur Vidhan Bhavan on Monday. State Congress president Nana Patole said that the march will highlight the government apathy towards farmers, reservation issue and rise in activities of drug mafia.

Mr. Patole informed that other party leaders including former CMs Prithviraj Chavan, Ashok Chavan, leader of Opposition in the legislative assembly Vijay Vadattiwar and senior leader Balasaheb Thorat will also participate in the march.

“Farmers have suffered huge losses due to unseasonal rain. The government did not allow even a discussion on the issue on the first two days of the sessions. It is only making empty promises. In fact, farmers have not received even earlier compensation announced by the government,” Mr. Patole said.

The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (SP)-Shiv Sena (UBT) has already held protests for two consecutive days on Thursday and Friday outside the legislature to highlight the plight of the farmers.

Referring to a report of National Crime Record Bureau, Mr. Patole said that the state is at Number 2 as in terms of crime. “But home minister Devendra Fadnavis is sidestepping the issue and instead teaching us how to analyse the data,” he said.

Mr. Patole also said that the expeditious resolution of demands for reservation is also one of the issues the Congress want to highlight. Currently, the issue of Maratha reservation has become the most significant political issue in the state. On the other hand, the OBCs are opposing inclusion of Marathas in their category. Activists of Dhangar community, which is currently part of the OBC cagatory, are protesting for their inclusion in the Scheduled Tribe category.

“We are taking out the ‘Halla Bol’ march to Vidhan Bhavan demanding immediate relief to farmers, recruitment drive to fill 2.50 lakh empty posts in government departments, more centres to procure farm produces at MSP, lifting of export ban on onion, removal of restrictions on ethanol production, immediate solution to reservation demands and steps to improve law and order situation,” Mr. Patole said.