Tapping grassroots leaders, BRS farmer wing aims to spread footprints in Maharashtra

“The (Telangana) chief minister himself met us and inducted us into the party. We will work for the betterment of the party in western Maharashtra,” said Patil.

Last week, former chief minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan lashed out at the BRS, calling it the B team of the BJP. The Congress made clear that the BRS was not welcome in the INDIA bloc of 26 Opposition parties. The Telangana chief minister recently took on the BJP and his expanding footprint in Maharashtra has led to uneasiness in the Opposition camp, which feels his party will cut into their votes.

The BRS’s Maharashtra strategy, according to the state chief of the party’s farmer wing, Manikrao Kadam, is to allow the entry of self-made, grassroots leaders who had lost touch with mainstream politics.

“The recognised parties—be it the BJP, the Congress, or the NCP—have their set of leaders. The leaders treat the party and their constituency as their personal fief and do not allow anyone else to grow. Our aim is to unite people who have worked and can make a difference in the lives of farmers,” said the state chief of the Bharat Kisan Rashtra Samithi.

Kadam, like More and Patil, is an old hand in farm politics and was the Marathwada head of the SSS. He also left Shetti due to differences over his style of working.

Leaders such as More and Patil might not appear important in state politics. But their importance can be gauged by their influence in the local circuits. More’s cousin is the director of a local cooperative sugar mill, while Patil and his family wield influence in their area. What Kadam and other BRS leaders want to do is to ensure such a network of ground-level leaders is united and reactivated to work for the party.

While leaders from other parties, including former MLAs and MPs, have joined it, the BRS has given preference to grassroots leaders who it hopes can play an important part in the coming Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

Kadam is trying to activate a state-level grassroots network that can help the BRS make a significant difference in the polls either as vote cutters or kingmakers.