Armed With Nashik’s Onions, How KCR is Peeling the Layers of Maharashtra’s Politics to Make Rivals Weep

In Maharashtra, irked by low prices for their produce, farmers were often forced to either burn their entire crop or give it away for free.

Recently, several farmers in Nashik district burnt their onion produce after failing to recover their initial investment. While the development showed the desperation of the crop growers, it came as a golden opportunity for the Telangana-based Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to enter Maharashtra’s political landscape.

The BRS has decided to give a good price for the onion produce in Maharashtra, with the Telangana government facilitating the state’s traders to procure onion from India’s largest market for the vegetable in Lasalgaon.

Speaking to News18, BRS state coordinator Harshwardhan Jadhav said: “The Telangana government is pro-farmer. The perception being made in the Lasalgaon market that the government is purchasing the onions is not true. It is just facilitating traders to get Maharashtra’s onions. This is not the first time onions from Maharashtra have been imported but certainly, farmers are getting a higher price in the Telangana markets.”

According to Jadhav, onions of Lasalgaon market are fetching approximately Rs 2,000-Rs 2,200 per quintal in Telangana. He said this rise in price was from Rs 300-Rs 800 per quintal because of the high-volume export to Telangana.

However, a few traders of the Lasalgaon market committee were not convinced. They said the current price for onion is between Rs 900 and Rs 1,200 per quintal depending on the quality of the produce.

“If someone is trying to portray that the prices have increased due to purchase of onions by Telangana traders then it’s not true. There is good demand from southern market for our onions but Telangana is not the major factor. We are exporting onions to Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu but hike in price is due to huge demand for onions in the Bangladesh market. We request Telangana traders to come here and choose the produce and fix the rate. We are happy to sell our produce. Purchasing small quantity at higher rates is not good. These are all political gimmicks of a party that wants to establish its base in Maharashtra,” said Manoj Jain, an onion trader.

Jadhav, however, refuted all the allegations levelled against his party. “BRS always had a pro-farmer policy, we have that track record in our state. We are not luring farmers from Maharashtra. It’s a simple logic of demand and supply.

“In the Nanded meeting, Rao had said that if the current Maharashtra government gives the same facilities to a common man and farmers, then we don’t want to enter here. But if that is not happening, then we will have to come here and do it. We are not greedy for power, we want people to get better facilities. In politics, every party wants to grow. Hence, as per the expansion plan of our party, we have entered Maharashtra,” he said.

K Chandrasekhar Rao’s BRS will inaugurate its first regional party office in Nagpur City on Thursday. The party, which wants to expand its base in Maharashtra, had conducted a mega rally in Nagpur where Rao had addressed the crowd. BRS is also in touch with NCP leader Bhagirath Bhalke from Pandharpur and as per sources, he will be inducted into the party officially. Another NCP leader from Ahemadnagar district, Ghanshyam Shelar, joined the BRS on Thursday.

Last year, 25 villages in Nanded district on the border of Maharashtra and Telangana had written to the Maharashtra government that they wanted to be merged with Telangana in the absence of facilities.