Maharashtra farmers’ activist quits BJP  

Farmer activist Kishore Tiwari, who last week locked horns with Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari over the steep penalties under the new Motor Vehicles Act (MVA), has broken ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in Nagpur on Monday.

Confirming the development, Tiwari, who is the President of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), said that the VJAS was an 'associate member' of the BJP for the last 10 years, but now they are no longer together.

"We have broken all ties with the BJP, I shall return to my activities for the welfare of the farmers in Maharashtra and other parts of India. If required, we shall cooperate with the Shiv Sena for resolving the suffering farmers' plight," Tiwari told IANS.

The development came five days after he warned Gadkari that the stringent MVA penalties "are anti-people and could spur suicides in the country."

Tiwari's statements had embarrassed the BJP even as half the states in the country are either rejecting or toning down the new MVA. These include key states like Gujarat from where the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP President Amit Shah hail, and Gadkari's home-state Maharashtra.