Amid the farmers’ protest, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait will hold a 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' and a public rally in Yavatmal district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra on February 20.
Scores of farmers from Vidarbha, the epicentre of agrarian distress, and other regions in the state will be attending the Mahapanchayat.
The Yavatmal meeting would be the first Kisan Mahapanchayat outside the North Indian belt.
The drought-prone Yavatmal district has seen the maximum suicide by farmers.
On March 19, 1986, close to 34 years ago, a farmer Sahebrao Karpe and his entire family comprising wife and four minor children, ended their lives at Cheelgavhan village in Yavatmal district – the first reported suicide by a family because of an agrarian crisis.
“Yavatmal is known for cotton farming and is also referred to as the graveyard of the farmers,” said political analyst and activist Jatin Desai.
Published 12 February 2021, 04:42 IST