Uddhav Thackeray, the leader of Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT), isn’t pulling punches when it comes to helping Maharashtra’s flood-hit farmers. On Wednesday, he urged the state government to quickly hand out Rs 50,000 per hectare in compensation to growers devastated by heavy rains and floods in Marathwada and other parts of the state. He also called for a new housing scheme, similar to the Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana, to rebuild rural homes wiped out by the disaster.
Thackeray took a sharp jab at the BJP-led Maharashtra government, asking sarcastically if they’re waiting for all farmers to join the Bharatiya Janata Party before waiving crop loans. Farmers and opposition parties have pushed for loan waivers repeatedly, but the government hasn’t budged, he said.
“Why does the government guarantee massive loans—worth hundreds of thousands of crores—for sugar tycoons who switch to the BJP?” Thackeray questioned. “If they default, taxpayers foot the bill. But regular farmers get nothing.”
Maharashtra is grappling with a severe heavy rains crisis right now, Thackeray noted. He said he’s begged the government with folded hands to tackle it together without dragging politics into the mix. Yet, he accused them of ignoring the plea. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is caught up in publicity stunts, one Deputy Chief Minister is handing out aid packets plastered with his own photo, and the other seems nowhere to be found when crises hit, leaving people stranded, Thackeray claimed—without naming Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde, or Ajit Pawar.
He’s especially upset about banks chasing farmers with debt recovery notices at a time like this. “Farmers already have to mortgage everything just to get a loan, and the government offers no guarantees,” he said. “Now, their crops and even land are ruined, they’re drowning in debt, and we’re hearing about farmer suicides every day.”
To drive his point home, Thackeray pulled out a 2020 letter from Fadnavis—back when Fadnavis was opposition leader—demanding a “wet drought” declaration during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s time. Now, with the MahaYuti alliance in power, Thackeray wants them to do the same. “Call it wet drought or whatever you like—the farmers are suffering,” he stressed. “Give them Rs 50,000 per hectare right away and launch that new rural housing program like PMAY without delay.”
Thackeray mocked the government’s choice of words, saying Fadnavis as CM opted for “disaster-hit” instead of “wet drought.” “Does the crisis disappear just because it’s not in some manual?” he asked. A central team hasn’t even visited the state yet, and officials are carrying out harsh inspections and assessments without mercy, he added. “Stop playing word games. Open schools in flood-affected areas fast to curb disease outbreaks. The Prime Minister feeds 80 crore people free grains, but the very farmers who grow them are destroyed. Farmlands and roads have vanished— the government needs to act now, not sit idle.”
He also slammed a recent decision to deduct Rs 15 per tonne from sugarcane farmers—Rs 5 for general relief and Rs 10 for the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. “You’ve given a free pass to sugar barons, but poor farmers get crop loan waiver demands ignored,” Thackeray said. “They’re already pledging land and even mangalsutras to survive. These deductions just pile on more pain amid crop losses.”
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