Raju Shetti demands more seats from Cong in M'rashtra

The Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana (SSS) led by veteran farmers' leader Raju Shetti will take a final call in the next few days whether it would go alone or be part of the Congress-NCP alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. 

Shetti, 51, is an MP from Hatkanangale in Western Maharashtra. 

In 2009, Shetti had defeated Kallappa Awade of Congress, while in 2014, he defeated Nivedita Mane of the NCP. 

Shetti was part of the BJP-led NDA, however, in 2017, he came out of the fold raising several issues including the implementation of the farm loan waiver scheme and had even been critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

When in 2008, he met Congress president Rahul Gandhi, there were speculations that Shetti would go to the UPA fold, however, so far, he had not made any formal announcement. 

The SSS has conveyed to the state Congress and NCP leadership that it is interested in contesting three to four seats, however, as of now, he has only been confirmed for the Hatankangale seat. 

The party has called a huge meeting of party workers in Madha on February 27 and the executive committee will meet in Kolhapur the next day. 

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the SSS is preparing for nine seats — Hatkanangale, Buldhana, Wardha, Madha, Kolhapur, Sangli, Dhule, Shirdi and Latur.