The Maharashtra state legislature's monsoon session will run from 22 June to 10 July, the Business Advisory Committees of the Maharashtra Legislative Council and Assembly decided on Monday. The schedule was confirmed by legislators from both the ruling alliance and the opposition following meetings at Vidhan Bhavan, Mumbai. The three-week window translates to just 14 working days — a duration that has already drawn sharp criticism from the opposition.

Farm Loan Waiver at the Centre of the Storm

The session is widely expected to be combative, with the opposition primed to confront the ruling alliance over the state government's ₹2 lakh farm loan waiver scheme. While the government has positioned the scheme as critical relief for Maharashtra's distressed farming community, opposition leaders have zeroed in on what they describe as 'hidden clauses' that could exclude a large share of intended beneficiaries.

The most contentious condition: farmers whose outstanding loans exceed ₹2 lakh must first clear the entire surplus amount from their own funds before becoming eligible for the state waiver. Critics argue this effectively bars the most indebted — and therefore most vulnerable — cultivators from receiving any benefit.

Rohit Pawar's Hunger Strike and Government Assurance

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar escalated the protest with a high-profile three-day hunger strike, demanding the immediate withdrawal of what he called 'stringent and misleading' conditions attached to the waiver. He called off the fast on the third day after receiving a written government assurance that high-level talks would be held. However, no concrete changes to the scheme have been announced, keeping the issue politically volatile.

NCP (SP) veteran Jayant Patil separately claimed that additional clauses — including caps on benefits for farmers who received earlier waivers — would effectively exclude millions of cultivators from the scheme's ambit.

Government's Defence

Several cabinet ministers have pushed back against the opposition's characterisation of the scheme. Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Girish Mahajan, and Jayakumar Gore each defended the crop loan programme, asserting that approximately 40 lakh farmers will benefit without any conditionalities. The government maintains the scheme represents a meaningful intervention for the agrarian sector.

Opposition Slams Short Session Duration

Congress legislator Nana Patole sharply criticised the session's length, arguing it was deliberately curtailed to limit scrutiny. 'There is massive public unrest and anger in Maharashtra over various burning issues. Our explicit demand was that this session should last for at least one month. However, it will effectively run for only 14 working days,' he said.

Patole further alleged that the government's primary motive in keeping the session brief was to push through supplementary financial demands while sidestepping accountability on issues affecting ordinary citizens. The ruling alliance has not formally responded to that charge.

What to Watch When the Session Opens

Beyond the farm loan waiver, the opposition has signalled it will raise concerns over alleged political engineering and broader public grievances. The government's ability to defend the waiver scheme's design — and offer credible answers on the conditionality question — will set the tone for the entire session. With Rohit Pawar's hunger strike having already generated significant public attention, the floor debates are expected to be among the most charged in recent memory.