Kalavati Bandurkar, a farm widow, who came to be known as the face of country's agrarian crisis, officially withdrew from the Maharashtra assembly poll fray on Tuesday.
Promoted by farmers' organisation, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), Kalavati was to contest from Wani as an official candidate of Swanantra Bharat Paksha with which VJAS has a tie-up. VJAS chief Kishor Tiwari and another farm widow Babytai Bais from a village near Kalavati's had filed their nominations as stand-by candidates.
An election official confirmed Kalavati was pulling out of the fray.
Though Kalavati filed her nominations on September 25, she had told TOI the same day that she was in no mood to contest owing to "ill-health'' and was under "tremendous pressure'' after all the attention and popularity post-Rahul Gandhi's visit to her house.
So why did she assert her candidature at a press conference in Nagpur a few days ago? Kalavati said she had an understanding with Tiwari to file the nomination and later withdraw. Tiwari, her political mentor, alleged she withdrew because of pressure from Congress and Sulabh International chief Bindeshwar Pathak (who had announced a whopping Rs 30-lakh aid to her).
"Unfortunately, she could not bear the pressures of her `celebrity' status after her encounter with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as many vested interests got into the act, compelling her to withdraw,'' Tiwari said in his blog.
Tiwari maintained that Kalavati was the right candidate to attract attention towards the farmers' woes. Winning wasn't the goal and all they wanted was to keep the issue alive, he maintained.
Tiwari said VJAS movement would continue and Bais would be the next official candidate. He said a farm widow getting elected would be "a tribute to 7,000 farmers who have ended their lives.''