Lok Sabha polls

All India Kisan Sabha Maharastra

Pulwama attack

PM will address a rally at Pimpalgaon–Baswant on Monday.With the threat of an impending agitation by farmers looming large, a sixfoot-deep moat-like ditch is being across the periphery of the 680-acre ground at Pimpalgaon–Baswant in Nashik to ensure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally on Monday is not obstructed.Modi is slated to campaign for his party’s north Maharashtra candidates. Nandurbar, Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Palghar and Bhiwandi are among the 17 constituencies that will cast their vote in the fourth phase of theon April 29.There is a strong feeling of resentment prevailing among the onion farmers against the central and state leadership. This is the same constituency where 12 years ago pomegranate farmers threw onions at the then central agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.Bearing this incident in mind and the rising agrarian crisis, intelligence agencies are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the prime minister is not met with a similar embarrassment while delivering his speech. However, given the massive expanse of the ground, the pressure on the agencies is also huge.The moat will reportedly run across the circumference of the rally ground and will be instrumental in blocking entry of huge crowds.Local traders are miffed at the extra security measure.The police, however, have dismissed the move as merely routine.Aarti Singh, Nashik Rural Superintendent of Police, told Mirror, “We want to barricade the rally area with wooden platforms. We are only following the SPG protocol to maintain security at the rally.”But will this prevent farmers from getting their voices heard?Dr Ajit Nawle, general secretary of the CPI(M)-ledsaid, “For some time, the focus of the socio-political narrative was diverted from the agrarian crisis to the. But now, farmers are slowly thinking about their plight again. The more force they will deploy to control the farmers, the stronger reaction farmers across the nation will give them through their votes.”