Sena supporters vandalise office; demand insurance money for farmers

A day after Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray warned insurance companies and bank allegedly delaying in settling claims of farmers afflicted by postmonsoon showersl a group of local Sena leaders and workers on November 6 2019 vandalised a branch office of the IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company in PuneThe gang of Shiv Saniks forcefully entered the insurance companys branch office at Pune around 11 am and started agitating shouting slogans demanding that rainhit farmers whose crops had been completely ravaged by unseasonal rains immediately be given their due insurance moneyWithout even waiting for all the employees to leave the office the Sena workers unfurling the saffron flags completely destroyed office furniture vandalised the office and damaged cabins by breaking window panes and mangling office chairsShivSena Pune unit chief Sanjay More who spoke to midday said In the past we had given proposals to all these insurance companies including IFFCO Tokio and Bajaj Allianz urging them repeatedly to settle farmers claims at the time of the drought but they paid no heed Officials at IFFCO Tokio were behaving in an arrogant manner even now when we urged them to give the desperate farmers insurance money This is the impact of vandalising the firms Pune branch was to give them a wakeup and this is just a beginning and alarm that will be a message to deaf hears who do not follow our chiefs appealHe further added This is our Sena style agitation for other insurance companies in Maharashtras Pune and Mumbai to get their act together and actively help farmersThere have been several cases of IFFCO Tokio failing to settle claims of farmers in the Marathwada region during the drought which stalked Maharashtra this summer Former MLA Mahadev Babar said Sena activists would be closely monitoring crop insurance companies to ensure that claims were settled expeditiously Such a blow on part of the Sena was much needed to prod these insurance companies into action Our party workers will ensure at the taluka level that panchnamas are done and afflicted farmers are given their due compensation of insurance moneyLocal Sena leader Suraj Lokhande warned companies that this act of the Sena was only the title and that the full film was yet to come He further said We will kick off a statewide agitation and vandalise offices of other crop insurance companies if they failed to settle claims rapidly While farmers were starving crop insurance firms were allegedly behaving in a highhanded mannerWhen contacted Koregaon Police Station officials said that investigations were on and that a complaint would soon be filed against the vandals On Tuesday Thackeray had made a daylong tour of three districts in Marathwada to interact with farmers and survey the ravaged croplands in the regionDo not worry the Sena chief had reassured farmers while remarking that he knew the addresses of the errant insurance companies In June this year the Sena chief had similarly warned that his party workers would not hesitate to straighten insurance companies and banks denying financial aid to farmers while touring droughthit regions in MarathwadaIn July Thackeray along with his party leaders and workers had staged a symbolic protest in front of a crop insurance company office at Mumbais BandraKurla Complex At a time when his party is indulging in brinkmanship bargaining with the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP thus delaying the government formation process Thackeray is projecting himself as being above petty wrangling for power ostensibly concerned only with the interests of the farmersCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates