FORMER MP and founder of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Raju Shetti, has announced that in the 2024 elections, his party тАФ Swabhimani Paksha тАФ would not only go alone, but would also contest in at least six Lok Sabha seats. ShettiтАЩs announcement is the latest of political somersaults the farm leader has done in his political career. While this announcement might have energised the members of the organisation, the long term effect is yet to be seen.
ShettiтАЩs announcement in a highly divided political scenario of Maharashtra has created much interest.┬а Both Congress and BJP leaders admit that Shetti can play spoilsport in at least three seats in the districts of Kolhapur and Sangli, namely Sangli, Hatkhanagale and Kolhapur.
Even NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had expressed his concern over Shetti leaving the MVA. With elections next year, ShettiтАЩs announcement is sure to add much fuel to political fire.
Fifty five-year-old ShettiтАЩs political journey started in the 1990s by agitating against the sugar millers in his home district of Kolhapur for better payment of sugarcane. His organisation, which literally started from scratch, saw the birth of a strong grassroots organisation which, over the years, ensured Shetti got elected twice as a member of the Lok Sabha from Hatkhanagale constituency in Kolhapur district in 2009 and 2014. In his debut, he had in fact defeated NCP heavy weight Nivedita Mane. The farm leaderтАЩs main plank was justice for farmers and to find a voice for the agricultural sector. Such was the success of the campaign that Shetti, himself a Jain, had managed to get elected twice from a Maratha-dominant constituency.
However, in 2019, Shetti lost to Dhairyasheel Mane, son of Nivedita, who had joined the then undivided Shiv Sena. Over the years, defection by senior leaders and constant vacillation by Shetti had rocked the farmerтАЩs organisation. The lone MLA of the Sanghatana, Devendra Bhuyar, was thrown out of the party.
If in 2019 Shetti had joined the NCP-Congress alliance, back in 2014, he had tied up with BJP-Shiv Sena. Shetti, during his entire political career, has taken the help of one or the other alliance to ensure he gets elected.
Local political understanding in the sugar bowl districts of Kolhapur and Sangli had dictated ShettiтАЩs stand but post 2019 he has become a vitriolic critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
After trying to actually reinvent his political stance, Shetti has gone back to his earlier stance of keeping distance from both the major groups in the state.
During his interaction with The Indian Express, Shetti said his party would contest elections in Hatkhanagale, Sangli, Kolhapur, Buldhana, Madha and Parbhani Lok Sabha seats. Shetti said his party is ready to adjust with local players but would keep equidistant from both the national parties.
тАЬOver the years, I have gone back to my voters to understand what had gone wrong. This has led us to correct our course and now we see an influx of leaders who have left us. Now we will try to ensure our party and its supporters grow,тАЭ he said.
Former leaders of the Sanghatana agree that ShettiтАЩs organisation has its pockets of supporters and in a closely contested election, it would make a difference.
However, for this Shetti would have to ensure that the main plank is agriculture-based. Thus, his decision to take the fight about payment of cane dues and fire shots against both the present and the previous state governments is seen as an attempt to reconnect to his roots.
Elections, ShettiтАЩs supporters say, are fought and won with enough money and muscle power. In case of Shetti, his entire campaigns were crowd-funded and he was known to have said that he would continue to win till he is able to collect election funds through crowd-funding. Now, the real test of Shetti would be to see how far his belief would continue.
