Farmer leader and Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetty is seeking re-election from his Hatkanangle constituency as a candidate of his Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS). A two-time MP, Mr. Shetty is the undisputed leader of sugarcane farmers from this rich belt of western Maharashtra and is known for taking head-on sugar mill owners, mostly from the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). But 2019 has changed equations, and leaving the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Mr. Shetty has joined hands with the Congress-NCP. In his first interview after officially joining the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), he tells The Hindu that no one should or can take him for granted.
BJP is not happy with you and has alleged that you have joined hands with thieves in this election. Your reaction?
Isn’t this the same Chief Minister who has sent a defamation notice to Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil? And isn’t he the same CM who welcomed Vikhe-Patil's son into the BJP? I would want to know what does he think about Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, who accused the CM of a ₹10,000-crore scam in preparation of Mumbai’s Development Plan. So who is joining the gang of thieves?
Your political struggle was against the Congress and NCP, but you have joined hands with those parties now. Does that mean you have changed sides?
I don’t belong to the Congress or NCP. Neither do I belong to the BJP, nor to the Sena. I am committed to farmers. In 2014, I went with the BJP because I wanted to teach a lesson to the Congress and NCP. But That wasn’t out of personal animosity. Back then, the policies of Congress and NCP were anti-farmer and we as an individual organisation had no strength to defeat them. Therefore we went with the BJP. That was natural. But sadly, these people have turned out to be worse than the previous government. Therefore, we have decided to join hands with the Congress and NCP now. I belong only to farmers and their interests.
Does that mean you will continue to raise farmers’ issues even if Congress-NCP comes back to power with your support?
Absolutely. I am firm on my position. If they commit mistakes like in the past, I can go against them as well. I am here to ensure benefits for farmers. I am a farmer. I joined the farmers’ movement to ensure justice is meted out to farmers. I will not change my stand, irrespective of party or alliance.
Maharashtra’s farmer movements are known for their divisions. Why can’t farmer leaders stay united?
One must understand that these are public movements for seeking justice and rights. Some join it for noble goals while some for individual gains. Those with conviction continue and those with vested interests break away. This is bound to happen and one cannot ignore it. How can anyone tell what other person is thinking? Whoever comes along is taken on board.
Your former colleague Sadabhau Khot has turned into your bitter critic and even the CM is encouraging him.
Greed for power — that is my only answer to this. He felt I was coming between his ultimate goal of obtaining power. I supported him when he was broke, but he misunderstood it and started thinking he ran the organisation. He ditched us when he chose the BJP symbol instead of ours. Let him do whatever he wants. If he is so capable, why doesn’t the Shiv Sena announce his candidature instead of Dhairyasheel Mane against me?
Your rivalry with Sharad Pawar went on for the longest time. Have you now mended your differences?
I am a part of a movement which is issue-based and not about personal animosity. I was questioning and criticising everyone who was planning policies. He was the Union Agriculture Minister, running the show even in the State. But why should I criticise him when he is not in power?
You are criticising your former friends like the BJP and Sena now. Will people accept that?
My former friends had [bullock carts full of] evidence against sugar mill owners. What happened to that? Has it vanished? I am still firm on my view. I am still fighting the court case. Just as they tasted power, everything is forgotten. Irrigation scam has vanished. They used this only to gain power. Nothing else.
Sena has found a young first-timer against you this time. Will it be difficult to take on the youth?
He could not win the zilla parishad seat for his wife from his own village, and he is going to contest the Lok Sabha poll against me. He comes from a big political family. Let it be. It is good.
Out of the six Assembly seats in your LS constituency, five are with the Sena and BJP. Won’t it affect your chances?
That has always been the case since 2009. I don’t care. The farmer is with me, so is the common man. From intelligentsia to middle-class households, everyone stands with me. They donate money to my campaign. Since the 2002 ZP election, this is my fifth election. I am not scared of anyone because the people are with me.
Despite announcing the alliance and two seats to your party, there is no clarity on the Sangli constituency. Congress is facing rebellion within the party over giving this seat to you. What will be your move if Congress backtracks?
There will be consequences, because this is not how a political party should handle things. I will inform Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Ahmed Patel about all this. The party should keep their workers under control, and if it can’t then it should not from alliance. Even we wanted to contest 15 seats, and if this fails, we have 13 candidates ready for other Lok Sabha seats as well. I hope the matter will be solved within a day or two.
Do you think farmers have turned against Narendra Modi?
Yes, they have. All [his] promises have turned out to be hogwash. Be it farm loan waiver or giving one-and-a-half times price to farm produce. The PM Crop Insurance Scheme has become a corporate insurance scheme benefiting private companies. In Maharashtra, the number of farmer suicides has doubled. Drought was declared in October; there are no adequate provisions yet. Tell me one reason why farmers should vote for BJP.
What do you promise if get elected?
Absolute farm loan waiver and one-and-a-half times guaranteed price. These two parties (the Congress and NCP) have agreed to it, and no matter who forms a government, I will continue asking for this.
