The Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the BJP's youth wing, on Wednesday threatened to launch a 'batli-todo' (bottle breaking) agitation all over Maharashtra from Thursday if the government did not withdraw supplies of Coca-Cola and Pepsi from the state in the wake of reported findings of high levels of pesticide and insecticides in the soft drinks.
BJP general secretary and Yuva Morcha in-charge, Madhu Chavan, told PTI that the Morcha had appealed to Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to ensure that supplies of soft drinks were withdrawn from the market or else it would launch its agitation from Thursday.
The Morcha also appealed to the the hoteliers to refrain from selling the soft drink products or else they would indulge in "batli-toro".
A Delhi-based NGO -- Centre for Science and Environment had tested samples of Coca-Cola, Pepsi and ten other brands and found them to contain 'a deadly pesticide cocktail' which exceed the European norms.
Yuva Morcha has organised demonstrations in Mumbai and elsewhere today as part of its agitational programme, Chavan added.
In a related move the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has decided to undertake a project to test samples from water sources used by cola and bottled water manufacturers.
