Why not declare that farmers shouldn't enter Mantralaya: Cong

The opposition Congress today accused the BJP-led government in Maharashtra of harassing and ill-treating farmers if they approach it with their grievances.
Taking a dig at the Fadnavis-led government, Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said if it can't resolve the problems of farmers, then it should bar them from entering the state Secretariat 'Mantralaya'.
He made the critical comments while participating in a discussion in the Lower House after Ajay Chaudhari (Shiv Sena) said in the Assembly that a farmer, Vijay Jadhav, who was to hold a protest in Mumbai against injustice to cultivators, was taken into custody by the police.

"This government arrests and thrashes farmers who approach it with their grievances. Why not just declare that farmers should not enter Mantralaya," Vikhe Patil taunted.
The Sena MLA said that Jadhav was now participating in a protest at Azad Maidan in Mumbai today 'under police observation'.
"The BJP-led government in Maharashtra had assured us that a probe will be conducted in a recent case of assault on a farmer from Marathwada, in Mantralaya. What happened to that probe," Vikhe Patil said.

"Such incidents of assaulting farmers have become common. Police beat them and the government has to make a statement. Police should be told to behave courteously with farmers," he said.

Speaker Haribhau Bagde said police should treat the farmers in a sensitive manner.
A three-day special session of the state Legislature to discuss and ratify the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, 2017, to pave way for the national roll-out of GST on July 1, began yesterday.
On April 6, the Parliament passed four GST bills which now have to be ratified by all states to enable the shift to GST.