THE 24th Maharashtra State Conference of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) was held with great enthusiasm in Kolhapur city onOctober 6-8, 2026. This was the first-ever state conference of the Kisan Sabha to be held in Kolhapur district in the sugar belt of Western Maharashtra. The conference was held as the AIKS marked the completion of 90 glorious years of its existence.

A total of 306 farmer delegates from 21 districts participated in the conference, representing 3,46,786 members of the AIKS across the state. Of these delegates, 37 were women.

At the beginning of the conference, a large and enthusiastic rally was organised from the conference venue to the birthplace of Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj. Shahu Maharaj, a descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji, was a great social reformer who made concerted efforts for the spread of education to backward castes and women. He was a staunch opponent of the caste system and was the first ruler in India to start 50 per cent reservations in government jobs for backward classes, including Dalits, as early as in 1902.

INAUGURAL SESSION

AIKS state president Umesh Deshmukh hoisted the flag. Floral tributes were paid at the martyrs' column. The Praja Natya Mandal of Solapur presented revolutionary songs.

AIKS state vice president Dr Uday Narkar moved the condolence resolution. The reception committee chairperson, Vikrant Patil, and co-chairperson, Babasaheb Devkar, while welcoming all delegates, outlined the progressive traditions of Kolhapur city and district.

AIKS General Secretary Vijoo Krishnan, while inaugurating the conference, recounted the glorious history of the AIKS. He then highlighted the burning issues of farmers today, the disastrous pro-corporate policies and free trade agreements of the Modi-led BJP regime, and the leading role played by the AIKS in the resistance to them. Concluding his address, he called for a major expansion of the AIKS across Maharashtra, invoking the slogan: “Kisan Sabha in every Village, every Kisan in the Kisan Sabha.”

SIGNIFICANT WORK DONE

In the afternoon session, state general secretary Dr Ajit Nawale presented the report of the preceding four years. A comprehensive 124-page report, attractively presented and rich in content, was distributed to all the delegates.

The political-ideological section of the report provided an in-depth and guiding analysis of the international, national and state-level political and agrarian situation. Other important sections covered the AIKS Work Report in Maharashtra, its Organisational Report, the future direction of work, and forthcoming political and organisational tasks.

Over the past four years, the AIKS has carried out significant work across Maharashtra. Its activities included statewide agitations and a state-level convention under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha; the Worker-Farmer Struggle Rally in Delhi; the third Kisan Long March from Nashik; the Akole Kisan Long March; marches to the district collectorates in Palghar and Thane; regional conventions on remunerative prices for cotton and soybean in Marathwada and Vidarbha; and a statewide agitation by milk-producing farmers; the movement for water rights from the Nilwande Dam in Akole; agitations in Sangli and Kolhapur districts against the Shaktipeeth Highway and on the issue of temple trust lands; agitations in Pune and Nagar districts on the issues of peasants of bal hirda (a forest produce); a united struggle for loan waiver in Vidarbha; and the stir by sugarcane farmers in Marathwada.

The report also highlighted the Kisan Long Marches in five districts this year—Palghar, Thane, Nashik, Ahilyanagar and Yavatmal; a statewide farmers' march to Mumbai; a nationwide Jail Bharo (court arrest) agitation; a statewide women farmers' convention at Nashik; a statewide land rights convention at Sambhajinagar; a state organisational workshop in Nashik; two statewide study camps in Pune and Sangli; and a successful meeting of the AIKS Central Kisan Committee in Mumbai. Thousands of farmers participated in many of these agitations, several of which achieved significant gains for farmers through sustained struggles. 

Two key examples of such gains were as follows: One, sustained united farmers’ struggles, in which the AIKS played a major role, forced the BJP state government to declare a farm loan waiver of Rs 36,585 crore recently, benefitting 56 lakh farmers. Two, the AIKS independently organised five massive Kisan Long Marches, mobilising a total of over 1.10 lakh peasants in them, and secured written assurances from the state government to re-open and re-examine all rejected and partially settled Forest Rights Act (FRA) claims.

There has also been some success during this period in translating all these activities into organisational strength. The AIKS membership in Maharashtra, which stood at 2,95,052 in 2022–23, increased to 3,46,786 in 2025–26, registering a rise of 51,734. This membership is spread across 103 talukas in 23 districts. But there is a major weakness in keeping village committees active. There is also much need for improvement in the recruitment of women and youth farmer activists. The report highlights these and other shortcomings.

A total of 39 delegates from the state participated in the rich discussion. On the third day, after Dr Ajit Nawale replied to the discussion, the report was unanimously adopted.

Treasurer Sanjay Thakur and Kisan Gujar presented the income and expenditure report for the past four years, which was also approved by the conference.

CONCLUSION

The conference was greeted by the following two INDIA Bloc leaders: Congress Legislative Council Party Leader and MLC Satej Patil, and senior NCP(SP) leader and MLA Jayant Patil.

CITU state general secretary M H Shaikh, AIDWA state general secretary Prachi Hatiwlekar, AIAWU leader Bhausaheb Kasbe, and SFI state vice-president Navnath More also greeted the conference.

AIDWA vice president Mariam Dhawale; former AIKS state president J P Gavit, ex-MLA; and Vinod Nikole, MLA, provided guidance on the future direction and expansion of the AIKS.

October 8, the third and final day of the conference, marked the 30th death anniversary of the legendary AIKS leader Godavari Parulekar, its only woman national president so far, and one of the pioneers of the historic Warli Adivasi Revolt.

Arjun Aade moved resolutions seconded by Kiran Gahala to declare the entire state drought-affected; ensure that all farmers receive crop insurance benefits; provide an incentive grant of Rs 2 lakh each to farmers who regularly repay their loans; vesting of Devasthan and Inam land, house site land, pasture land, etc to the names of the cultivators; ensure effective implementation of the FRA, etc. The credentials report was placed by Adv Ajay Burande.

The conference unanimously elected a new 80-member state council, which in turn unanimously elected Yashwant Zade as President, Umesh Deshmukh as General Secretary, and Sadashiv Sable as Treasurer, along with other office bearers. 40 delegates and 3 observers to the 36th National Conference of the AIKS were also unanimously elected.

AIKS President Dr Ashok Dhawale delivered a rousing concluding address. The dedicated activists of the AIKS in Kolhapur district had made excellent arrangements. All the volunteers who contributed to the successful holding of the state conference were felicitated and others who helped were thanked. The conference concluded with resounding revolutionary slogans.