Kalavati Bandurkar, the widow of a farmer in Vidarbha who shot into limelight after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi mentioned her name in Parliament, is unlikely to file her nomination for the Maharashtra assembly polls as an opposition party candidate as she has been hospitalised.
It's official. Kalavati Bandurkar, the most visible face of the farm crisis in drought-hit Vidarbha, on Tuesday withdrew from Maharashtra assembly polls after a series of flip flops.
In the midst of flip-flops by Kalavati Bandurkar on contesting the Maharashtra assembly polls, the non-governmental organsiation supporting her candidature on Saturday replaced her with another candidate. "Since Kalavati is not well and under tremendous pressure from many quarters to withdraw her nomination from Wani, the Samiti has decided to replace her with Babytai," said Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti president Kishore Tiwari.
Kalawati Bandurkar was scheduled to contest the October 13 polls from Wani Assembly Constituency in Yavatmal district as Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti candidate, but in a recent interview to a leading Marathi newspaper she had said that she was being "pressurised to contest elections and that she was unaware of what election and politics were."
46 farmers have ended their lives so far in this month.
About 42 farmers have committed suicide this month and the total number of suicides is now 975.
The Maharashtra government is pushing hard to get a Rs 4,500-crore financial package from Centre, reports Sanjay Jog
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