A week after the BJP tried to placate its alliance partner Swabhimani Paksha by allocating chairmanship of the Maharashtra State Powerloom Corporation to it, MP Raju Shetti is all set to hit the streets again to highlight cane arrears.

Shetti has announced that his organisation, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, will agitate in front of the office of the tehshildar concerned across the state from May 21 and said the protests will intensify in case the government does not resolve the issue soon.

Surplus sugar stock and low price of the commodity in the market has resulted in the state’s sugar mills defaulting on payment of fair and remunerative price (FRP) to the farmers. Estimates from the sugar commissioner say the arrears are to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced a package of Rs 2,000 crore for the sector, but the official government order in this regard is yet to be released. Cooperation Minister Chandrakant Patil had recently said the orders would be out by the end of May.

For Shetti, the issue of cane arrears is particularly contentious as his stronghold in Western Maharahstra has seen arrears to the tune of 30-40 per cent.

Shetti, who has become vocal in his criticism against the government, had last week embarked on a major reachout programme in the Marathwada region. The growing proximity of the BJP with the NCP and the issue of land acquisition had rubbed Shetti the wrong way and he was increasingly feeling cornered and neglected by both the state and Central governments. While the BJP had accommodated another of its allies, RSP, by making party leader Mahadev Jankar an MLC, Shetti’s Swabhimani Paksha was not given any position or place in the Upper House of the legislature.

Sugar Commissioner Bipin Sharma has said hearings for cane arrears would start on May 20. Factories of senior politicians such as Jayant Patil, Pankaja Munde, Nitin Gadkari and others also have defaulted on payment to farmers this year.