Farmers to 'obey court, go to jail', says Kadu after HC order to clear highway

Hours after the Bombay High Court directed protesting farmers to vacate a national highway near Nagpur, Prahar Janshakti Party (PJP) chief Bachchu Kadu on Wednesday said the agitating farmers would comply with the order but would also court arrest in protest against the state government’s “failure” to deliver a comprehensive farm loan waiver.

“They will go to the police and court arrest,” Kadu said in the evening, as the 6.00 pm deadline set by the Nagpur bench of the high court expired. “We will not defy the order, but the administration should make arrangements for us in jail.”

Kadu, a former Maharashtra minister known for his fiery style of protest politics, led a massive tractor march on the Nagpur–Wardha road (NH 44), which brought traffic to a standstill for nearly 20 km on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. The demonstration, part of what he called the Maha Elgar Morcha, was aimed at forcing the government to announce an unconditional farm loan waiver and increased compensation for farmers hit by unseasonal rain.

Farmer leader and former MP Raju Shetti, who heads the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, joined the protest, along with leaders such as Wamanrao Chatap and Madhav Jankar.

The high court took suo motu cognisance of the traffic disruption caused by the blockade, calling it a serious public inconvenience, and ordered Kadu and his supporters to clear the road by 6.00 pm. However, as of 7.00 pm, Kadu, Shetti and hundreds of farmers continued their sit-in at the Jamtha flyover on Nagpur’s outskirts, saying they were waiting to be taken into custody.

Kadu said the agitation symbolised the deep distress among farmers across Maharashtra, where thousands continue to face mounting debt and crop losses despite multiple loan waiver schemes announced over the past decade.

“The government keeps announcing relief, but nothing reaches the ground. Banks and cooperatives still hound farmers, while insurance claims are delayed for years,” he said.

Raju Shetti said ministers were expected to arrive for talks but none turned up, prompting the call for a jail bharo andolan (mass arrest agitation). “If the government refuses to listen to farmers’ cries, we will fill its jails. This is not politics; it is survival,” Shetti said.

Kadu’s PJP, which has a strong base among farmers and youth in Vidarbha and parts of Amravati, has in recent months revived its grassroots mobilisation around rural debt and unemployment. The party, which supports farmers’ protests but remains outside major political alliances, has accused both the BJP-led government in Maharashtra and the Opposition INDIA bloc of neglecting agrarian issues.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, in response, appealed to Kadu to withdraw the protest and hold talks instead. “The state government has already formed a committee to examine the farm loan issue. Our immediate priority is to help farmers affected by heavy rains. We have never said we are against a loan waiver,” Fadnavis said in Nagpur earlier in the day.

Despite the appeal, the mood at the protest site remained defiant. As night fell, farmers chanted slogans demanding “karz maafi, nahi toh jail” (loan waiver or jail), vowing to continue peaceful civil disobedience until their demands were met.

The Maha Elgar Morcha marks one of the biggest farmer mobilisations in Vidarbha this year, reviving the debate over debt relief and agrarian distress that continues to haunt Maharashtra’s politics ahead of the upcoming state elections.

With PTI inputs