Mumbai: Tired and disappointed with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP in cementing a pre-poll alliance, Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) has indicated it would go solo in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. The party has said it would announce its list of candidates by March 11 if the Congress and the NCP failed to respond clearly to its demands over seat-sharing.
Besides Shetti contesting from the Hatkanangale Lok Sabha constituency in Kolhapur, the SSS is planning to field candidates from a total of 15 Lok Sabha seats including Baramati, Pune, Madha, Aurangabad and Buldhana among others.
Shetti, a two-time MP from Hatkanangale is demanding the Buldhana and Wardha seats from the Congress-NCP alliance. Pawar has already given his backing for Shetti on the Hatkanangale seat. A meeting with NCP Chief Sharad Pawar and SSS state president Ravikant Tupkar took place in Mumbai last week for seat-sharing arrangements.
“Despite several rounds of talks with the NCP and the Congress, a firm response has not been forthcoming from their end. With the election inching ever closer, our candidates have already hit the campaign trail. We have given the leading opposition parties a deadline till March 11 to respond to our demands,” said SSS leader Anil Pawar.
“We have demanded that besides Hatkanangale, the Congress and the NCP give us Buldhana and Wardha where we feel the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana has an edge. Our contention is that Congress and NCP do not have strong candidates in these three LS constituencies,” Pawar said.
“While Ravikant Tupkar is already in a strong position in Buldhana, Subodh Mohite will prove a formidable candidate from Wardha. The Congress and the NCP can easily give us these two seats from their kitty,” asserted Pawar. Mohite, who was elected from the Ramtek Lok Sabha seat in 2004, quit the Sena in 2007 before joining the Congress. He later left Congress and joined SSS.
“NCP chief Sharad Pawar has assured us that he would speak to Congress President Rahul Gandhi of our demands,” said a Swabhimani Paksha leader, requesting anonymity, adding that “pressure tactics” as well as “bargaining” with the Congress and the NCP for these two constituencies were simultaneously on at present.
