As the BJP and the Shiv Sena continue the wrangling over government formation in Maharashtra, a resident of Beed district in the parched Marathwada region has written to the Governor nominating himself for the Chief Minister’s post till the imbroglio is resolved between the saffron allies.
Shrikant Vishnu Gadale, a son of a farmer and resident of Dahiphal Wadmauli village (in Kaij tehsil), wrote to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari through the Beed District Collector, requesting that he be made the Chief Minister and promising that he would expeditiously resolve issues affecting farmers and give them justice.
Despair among the State’s farmers has been rife after unseasonal showers, caused by by successive cyclones, ravaged lakhs of acres of cropland across the State. The situation had been aggravated owing to the power struggle between the parties, delaying the process of damage assessment and compensation, he said.
“Farmers across the State have had to endure massive losses owing to natural calamities [in the form of post-monsoon showers] that destroyed ready to harvest crops. Farmers are extremely worried as a result of this. At a time when they are suffering, the Shiv Sena and the BJP are unable to resolve the question of which party should hold the CM’s post. Hence, till the issue is resolved, the Governor should hand over the responsibility of Chief Minister’s post to me, he wrote.
Mr. Gadale said he was taking this decision in the interests of the common good of the people. “I have been active in social service and local politics for the last 10-12 years and continuously active in resolving the problems of farmers and the poor in this time. I will protest using democratic means if no cognisance is taken of my proposal,” he added.
Efforts to contact him were in vain.
Raju Shetti hits out at govt
Swabhimani Paksha chief and farmers’ leader Raju Shetti said Mr.. Gadale’s action exemplified the pervasive frustration and despair among farmers at the ‘power games’ of the Sena and the BJP and the sheer callousness of the administration that was delaying an assessment of the damage to crops.
“What is wrong with his [Mr. Gadale’s] gesture? The BJP and the Sena are immersed in selfish politics and have no time for the farmers… Last month, a farmer in Buldhana district committed suicide wearing a BJP T-shirt even as the Prime Minister was present in the State to address a pre-election rally,” Mr. Shetti said.
He also hit out at State Agriculture Minister Sadabhau Khot for the inordinate delay in commencing a tour of the ravaged croplands. “I wonder what was holding him [Mr. Khot] up as he was not even actively involved in the Assembly elections. Why did he begin his survey [from Nashik district] only today, when it is already too late?” Mr. Shetti said.
