11 Villages in Marathwada Decide to Beat up Vote Seekers

As one enters the Harshi village in Paithan taluka of Aurangabad district, they are greeted with hoardings saying ‘if leaders visit the village seeking votes, they would be beaten up’. Eleven villages including Harshi in Paithan have resolved to “beat the leaders” from all the parties if they seek votes from villagers.

Villagers have been demanding completion of an under-construction dam nearby that can supply water to them for many years, but no party has fulfilled this demand. Hence, angry villagers have now decided not to allow any leaders to visit them.

Due to the drought situation in the state for the past four years, farmers have been distressed. They had been cultivating sweet lemon on around 1000 hectares of land. But now, all the sweet lemon orchards have dried due to the lack of water supply. Farmers, despite having land, are being forced to migrate or work as labourers at the nearby industries. Ironically, the Jaikwadi dam, which is the biggest in the region, is just 55-60 km away from the cluster of these villages. The dam supplies water to one fourth of the Marathwada region, however, the villages close to the dam continue to witness acute water shortage.

The state government had started work under Brahmgavan Lift Irrigation Scheme to lift water from Jaikwadi and supply to the 55 villages in Paithan. The project should have been completed by 2013, as per the original contract. But it is still under construction, and as per latest information, construction will be completed by 2020. The 6 km project would help irrigate 1800 hectares of land in this tehsil.

Nakul Mule, a farmer from Kharda, said, “Since 2010, leaders from all the parties in every election – from local body to Lok Sabha – promise that they would complete the project. They make sure that we vote for them. But nobody fulfils the promise. In fact, nobody even bothers to visit our villages once the election results are out.”

Paithan taluka falls under Jalna constituency for Lok Sabha elections, and Bhartiya Janata Party state Chief Raosaheb Danve has been a member of parliament from Jalna for the last two terms since 2009.

Also read: Elections 2019: Media May Ignore Drought in Maharashtra But It Will Affect Election Results

The angry farmers from 55 villages held a meeting on Tuesday and decided to boycott the elections. Eleven of these villages – Harshi Bk, Harshi Kh, Mauje Nanegoan, Pusegoan, Khadgoan, Enaiyatpur, Sonwadi, Tehrgoan, Vadaji, Koli, Kharda – have put up banners warning the leaders that they would be beaten.

Kishor Agale, a farmer from Harshi, said, “Vilas Autade from Congress with his campaigners had come to our village two days ago. He had to return after looking at angry villagers here. No other party workers had dared to visit our village.”

Agale says that the anger of villagers is logical. He said, “Villagers in 55 villages have done more than 40 strikes. We have submitted letters to collector, tehsildar, MPs and MLAs numerous times. All of them give promise that they would get funds from the state and central government but nobody fulfils promises.”

Farmers would earn in lakhs by cultivating sweet lemon earlier. But now they are reduced to being a labourer due to lack of water, he said.

Ram Khandagale, a farmer from Kharda, told NewsClick, “I have 10 acres of farm land, and would earn over three lakhs per year by cultivation of sweet lemon every year. Marathwada has been witnessing drought for the last five years, and hence, we don’t have water for farming. My orchid has dried. I have been working as a labourer at industries near Paithan.”

Khandagale is not alone. Fifty-five of these villages have more than 15,000 farmers who cultivate sweet lemon on over 1000 hectares. But due to the lack of water, their orchids have dried in the past two years. Farmers feel cheated, as the Jaikwadi dam is 55 km away. Thus, over 30,000 adults are currently jobless due to the lack of water. They have to migrate to big cities where they have to work without any security.

The local farmers also said that at least 23 farmers have committed suicide in Paithan in the last seven years.

Mule informed that a year ago, farmers had taken morcha to tehsil office with the same demand. He said, “[BJP MP] Danve had promised that he would get funds. He had also told us that he had a meeting with Girish Mahajan, the water resource minister, and he would get the funds. But he has not done anything.”

Farmers are now going to design the course of action to put pressure on the MPs, MLAs and officials once the election is over. Danve did not respond to the calls or messages by this reporter.

Also read: #MahaDrought: Inadequate Aid by Government to Fight Drought