Ahead of the first round of talks between a Maharashtra Government-appointed high-power committee and leaders of agitating farmers scheduled for Sunday, both the camps witnessed different set of problems on Saturday.
While senior Shiv Sena Minister Diwkar Raote sprang a surprise by claiming that he had no clue about the State Government-appointed high-power Ministerial Committee of which he is a member, differences cropped up within the newly re-constituted farmers’ core committee under the leadership of Shetkari Swabhimani Sanghatana MP Raju Shetti over the number of leaders to be involved in the negotiations.
Hours after Raote said that he had no clue about the formation of a Ministerial Committee to hold talks with the farmers’ leaders, Maharashtra’s Revenue Minister and ministerial team’s convenor Chandrakant Patil said that he had spoken to the Sena minister twice on the latter’s appointment on the committee.
At the newly re-constituted farmers’ core committee called to discuss the strategy for Sunday’s meeting with the State Government-appointed ministerial sub-committee, farmer leader Raghhnath Patil objected to the decision that only some selected members would go for talks with the State Government. He said that all the 35 members of the core committee would go for talks with the State Government.
However, after the meeting, both Shetti and another farmer leader Jayant Patil said there was no difference of opinion among the farmers’ leaders on any of the issues. Patil said that misunderstanding arose at the meeting because Raghunath Patil came to Saturday’s core committee meeting late and did not know as to what had transpired at the meeting earlier.
Shetti said that the first round of talks with the ministerial sub-committee, scheduled to begin in Mumbai at 1 pm on Sunday, would be preliminary in nature.
“At the meeting, we will try to understand as to what the State Government is upto with regard to our various demands. Once that is done, we will set the ground for next rounds of talks,” he said.
Meanwhile, the farmers’ core committee has readied its four-page charter of demands to be submitted to the State Government on Sunday.