How a land conflict spread across 12 districts is haunting Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra
- Mahmodul Hassan
- Nov 17, 2024
- 2 min read
In February 2024, 42-year-old farmer Ananda Bhairu Shinde woke up to a distress call from a friend, informing him that their village land in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district was falling under the Shaktipeeth Expressway project. Ananda said he, along with other village farmers, were already worried after witnessing the sight of drones being flown over their village land for a “survey” in January.
“I immediately checked the file of the Gazette notification I received from my friend. The survey number and village name were mentioned. So within the next week, we started mobilising the farmers. Even farmers from nearby affected villages joined us to oppose it at any cost,” Ananda said, recalling the initial days of opposition against the expressway in his village, which eventually became a part of large-scale protests across the affected districts in Maharashtra.
Ananda is one among thousands of farmers in the state opposing the land acquisition for the Nagpur-Goa Expressway, also known as the Shaktipeeth Expressway, that will pass through 12 districts – Wardha, Yavatmal, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani, Latur, Beed, Dharashiv, Solapur, Sangli, Kolhapur, and Sindhudurg – of Maharashtra.
The multi-lane expressway aimed at “reducing time travel” between Nagpur and Goa was announced by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in September 2022. The 802-kilometre, six-lane expressway was supposed to be the longest in the state and was flaunted for promoting religious tourism, as it will pass through three Shaktipeeths—Mahalaxmi, Tuljabhavani, and Patradevi. But soon after the announcement, massive protests erupted against land acquisition for the project throughout the 12 districts. Land owners feared threats to agriculture, livelihood, irrigation system, and the Western Ghats and its biodiversity and expressed concerns around yearly floods and the vulnerability of the landless.
The protests caused political turmoil. The ruling coalition witnessed a sharp decline in the Parliamentary constituencies in these 12 districts in the general election results in June this year. Out of 15 Parliamentary constituencies, the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) won in 12, an independent candidate won in one, and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won in only two seats. This caused a reality check for the ruling alliance, prompting a pause on land acquisition for the highway project, though no official announcement has yet been made regarding the project.
The controversial land acquisition, however, is still haunting the ruling alliance in these districts, as landowners are leveraging their votes in the upcoming Assembly election to demand cancellation of the project.
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