Politics in Western Maharashtra’s sugar belt is in a state of flux. With the collapse of coalitions in the State, this bastion of sugar barons from the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party is headed for an unpredictable contest.
The issue of ailing sugar cooperatives, coupled with frustrated political ambitions and clan rivalry, has given the BJP an opportunity to break the stranglehold of the Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP after more than two decades.
Former NCP minister Babanrao Pachpute and sitting MLA from Shrigonda constituency in Ahmednagar district jumped ship when his party refused to bail his ailing Saikrupa sugar factory.
“Despite extensive work, we could never win Shrigonda. Hence we lapped up Pachpute the moment he made public his disaffection with the NCP,” explains senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse. While Pachpute’s sugar company may be in shambles, his residual clout is still valued by the BJP.
When sugar baron Atul Bhosale, a former Congressman, crossed over to the BJP last month, the latter wasted no time in giving him a ticket from his turf in South Karad. This vital constituency is being hotly contested by former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and seven-time MLA Vilas Patil Undalkar.
In 1998, Mr. Bhosale’s father, the powerful Jaywantrao Bhosale, had shifted loyalties to the Shiv Sena in his struggle to gain control of the Krishna Cooperative Sugar Factory in Karad.
“The 10,000 – odd people employed by Atul Bhosale’s sugar and textile factories form his core base in Karad. His entry naturally strengthens the BJP’s hand,” says election watcher Sharad Bandekar.
“Most of the sugar barons do not need the tag of a party to win an election. Further, their diversification into manufacturing and other ancillary sectors help create job opportunities for people in their districts, resulting in organic vote-banks. Almost all of them have a polytechnic to their name,” says Mr. Bandekar.
Sugar economics has propelled Maharashtra’s politics since the time Congressman Yashwantrao Chavan became the State’s first Chief Minister in 1960. The sugar lobby of Western Maharashtra has returned more chief ministers and cabinet ministers than any other part of the State.
But today, of the 120-odd cooperative sugar factories in the state, less than ten are profit making – the result of financial mismanagement on part of their promoters, many of whom are influential politicos.
Movements like the Raju Shetti’s Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, which have taken on the sugar lobby by agitating for higher prices for sugarcane farmers, have witnessed a surge of popularity over the last decade.
“People crave to be the chairman of a sugar cooperative rather than an MLA. Control of a cooperative, rather that the state of roads and public works, is the political modus operandi,” remarks Mr. Shetti, president of the Swabhimani Paksha.
The BJP, by piggybacking on Mr. Shetti’s popularity, is hoping to make inroads in Kolhapur and Sangli.
The Parliamentary polls in May saw Sharad Pawar’s once-impregnable bastions in Madha and Baramati being severely dented by Mr. Shetti’s party and the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha led by Mahadev Jankar.
Alarmed by this, the Congress has put up 93-year-old sugar baron, Appasaheb S. R. Patil against Savkar Madnaik of the Swabhimani Paksha for fear of losing its grip on the Shirol constituency. S.R. Patil manages the Datta Sugar Cooperative in Shirol, one of the few profit-making concerns.
Mr. Shetti has also put up his candidate Rajiv Patil from Madha constituency in Solapur to fight four-time MLA and NCP strongman, Babanrao Shinde, who runs the Vithalrao Sugar factory there.
As drought stalked Maharashtra last year, emotions ran high in Madha with farmers alleging Mr. Shinde of diverting water from the Ujani dam to sustain his sugar factory. The Swabhimani Paksha hopes to cash on this resentment.
In Sangli’s Islampur constituency, the Congress, the Shiv Sena and Mr. Shetti’s party have forged an unorthodox alliance to topple NCP minister and sugar titan Jayant Patil.
However, Mr. Patil, who controls the Rajarambapu Patil Saharaki Sakhar Karkhana, is unruffled by the combination of forces ranged against him.
“I prefer to let my work do all the talking. Our cooperative has never indulged in any skullduggery, always paying out dues to farmers on time,” said Mr. Patil, who has retained his constituency five times.
