Shetti stays firm on Buldhana & Wardha

PUNE: The much-talked about poll pact between Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) and the NCP-Congress alliance now hinges on the latter’s willingness to part with the Buldhana and Wardha Lok Sabha seats.

On Tuesday, SSS leader and MP Raju Shetti said his party would go solo by fielding candidates in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies across the state, including Madha, if the NCP-Congress combine failed to respond to its demand for Buldhana and Wardha seats within 24 hours.

On Monday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had said in Pune that he was involved in talks with the SSS and there was consensus on many points.

Shetti, a two-time MP from Hatakanangale in Kolhapur district, however, said his party had not received any confirmation from the NCP over the Buldhana seat yet and there was no word from the Congress regarding Wardha either.

“In our proposed poll pact, the SSS is demanding Hatkanangale , Buldhana and Wardha seats. The NCP and Congress are expected to leave Buldhana and Wardha, respectively. There is still no progress on our demand. Our two-day ultimatum ends on Wednesday,” Shetti said.

The SSS has fixed 14 seats, which includes Madha. It can fight the Madha seat as the party has a strong presence in the constituency. The SSS did not demand Madha as Sharad Pawar was willing to contest from the constituency. But since Pawar has decided not to be in the fray, the SSS is ready to fight there, he added.

Shetti rebutted the speculation that Pawar’s decision not to contest from Madha was based on the assumption that the NCP has lost its base in the constituency. He asked, “In fact, the BJP has not been able to find a candidate in Madha. If the BJP has a strong base in the constituency, then why is Subhash Deshmukh, a senior minister, not willing to fight from Madha?”

Shetti said his party’s list of 14 constituencies included Kolhapur, Shirdi, Shirur, Nashik and Baramati . “A poll pact with the Congress-NCP combine is under consideration as all of us are of the same thought: to keep the BJP out and work out solutions to the farm crisis. But if both the parties fail to respond, we are ready to go solo,” he said.