In midnight swoop, Vidarbha farmers' families "removed" off Modi's hometown, leader nabbed in North Gujarat

By A Representative
Maharashtra’s maverick MLA Bacchu Kadu, who was set free from South Gujarat after being detained on Thursday at inter-state borders, was again nabbed by the Gujarat police off Mahsana, as he was proceeding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hometown Vadnagar to stage his protest against the plight of Vidarbha region farmers.
Kadu, who began his Nagpur to Vadnagar yatra on April 11, was to reach his destination on April 21, where he had planned to organize a blood donation protest. Representing Amravati as an independent, he proposed to send a message to Modi that farmers were “willing to give their blood if he spared their lives.”
According to local sources in South Gujarat, most of the 1,400 farmers, 1,000 of them from Maharashtra and the rest from Gujarat, were detained and set free along with Kadu. While the farmers were told to return to their respective villages, Kadu, accompanied by a dozen supporters, decided to continue his planned protest.
After reaching Ahmedabad on Friday morning, where Kadu met Khedut Samaj Gujarat (KSG) leader Sagar Rabari, Kadu, accompanied by his colleagues in three vehicles, proceeded to Vadnagar via the highway leading to Mehsana.

“Kadu and his team were stopped at Mevad toll plaza and detained”, Sagar Rabari, who received a message from Kadu, told Counterview, adding, “They had decided to first go to Mehsana, donate blood, and then go to Vadnagar, there is no blood donation facility. They were adamant to declare their protest in Vadnagar.”
In a related development, about 200 family members of the Vidarbha farmers who had committed suicide, and who had reached Vadnagar by rail or buses to register their protest, were removed from the vicinity of Modi’s hometown on the wee hours on Friday. Many of those who were “removed” were women.
“Staying put in a private party plot of a farmer off Vadnagar, where arrangements were made for them to live overnight, they were all herded into two buses early at around 2.30 am, and were left at Ahmedabad railway station to proceed to Maharashtra”, Rabari said.
Called Aasood Yatra under the auspices of Kadu’s farmers’ organization, Prahar, “the rally, which began in Nagpur, the home town of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, did not face any such hurdles in his state”, said Rabari.
The Nagpur to Vadnagar rally consisted of hundreds of whip wielding farmers of Vidarbha. The rally was allowed to pass through Sukhpur, the last village in Maharashtra along the border with Gujarat, before it was stopped by the Gujarat police.
The rally was called Aasood, which in Marathi means whip – whose idea was taken from top Maharashtra social reformer Jyotiba Phule’s novel 'Shetkaricha Aasood', which is based on the theme that the farmer should use the whip not only on the bullocks he mends but also on the oppressors.
Passing through Wardha, the rally traversed through Yavatmal and Nanded. It covered Latur, Osmanabad, Solapur and later via Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur, Pune, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Nashik, Dhule and Nandurbar, before it reached the border with Gujarat, where it was first prevented, as it wanted to proceed towards Vadnagar via Ahmedabad.

Comments

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Labour unrest in Manesar trigger tensions: Recently enacted labour codes blamed

By A Representative A civil rights coalition has expressed concern over recent developments in the industrial hub of Manesar in Haryana, where a series of labour actions and police responses have drawn attention. A statement, released by the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), said it stood in solidarity with workers in IMT Manesar and other parts of the country, while also alleging instances of police excess during ongoing unrest.

Search This Blog