Mumbai, April 25 (IANS) The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Saturday alleged that despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s repeated assertions that farmers are the backbone of the nation, ground realities reflect deep distress in the agricultural sector, turning the lives of farmers and farm labourers into what it described as a “living hell”.

In a sharply worded editorial published in its mouthpiece Saamana, the party accused the central government and the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government of abandoning the farming community through policies and political priorities that, it claimed, have failed to address their core problems.

The editorial alleged that farmers are being subjected to what it termed “black laws”, their produce is being bargained away internationally, and their protests are defamed by branding them as “terrorist movements”.

The editorial said that the Marathwada region in Maharashtra has become the epicentre of this humanitarian crisis. “Recent data reveal a devastating trend of farmer suicides. Over 225 farmers ended their lives in Marathwada in the last three months alone. About 95 suicide cases were recorded in March, averaging four to five deaths every single day. In 2025, 1,150 farmers committed suicide in Marathwada. Between 2021 and 2025, the total number of suicides reached 5,075, with Beed district reporting the highest figures,” it added.

According to the editorial, if deaths due to mental trauma and despair were included alongside official government figures, the region would resemble a “cemetery”.

It said, while Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently touted new industrial investments and job creation, the editorial alleged that the agricultural sector remains in ruin.

It identifies several systemic failures contributing to this decline. “Lack of irrigation, unseasonal rains, hailstorms, and the absence of a Minimum Support Price (MSP) continue to haunt the sector. Despite three debt-waiver announcements in the last 25 years, farmers remain trapped in a cycle of debt. Crop insurance schemes are ‘farcical’. The administration lacks long-term planning and a professional approach toward agriculture. Furthermore, free grain schemes for nearly 100 million people are viewed as ‘begging bowl’ policies that fail to provide sustainable livelihoods,” said the editorial.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena sharply criticises the central and state leadership for prioritising electoral gains over human lives.

“While the Prime Minister campaigns in West Bengal — promising to turn ‘hell into heaven’ — the rest of the country suffers under worsening conditions.
The government is more invested in the Delimitation Bill and increasing Lok Sabha seats than in solving the agrarian crisis,” it claimed.

The Thackeray camp argued that instead of addressing the survival of the “backbone of the nation”, the government is dividing farmers by caste and religion to maintain political control.

The editorial concludes that until the survival of the farmer becomes a genuine political priority rather than a slogan, no amount of political manoeuvring can be considered successful. For the farmers of Maharashtra, the current state of neglect is nothing short of “hell”.

–IANS

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