Sweet tidings? Maharashtra sugar barons make beeline for Opposition MVA

Incidentally, arsenic per sweetener manufacture insiders, the caller governmental migration mostly comprises leaders who bash not person cases against them oregon person to woody much with the authorities authorities than the Centre. “Those who person superior cases against them mightiness not instrumentality the hazard but others would surely do,” a root said, referring to cases lodged against leaders by Central agencies.

When Ajit Pawar walked retired with a bulk of the agreed NCP’s MLAs and joined the Eknath Shinde-led authorities successful 2023, 1 of the communal accusations his campy faced was that they had changed sides to flight scrutiny from the Central agencies. For instance, Cabinet curate and NCP MLA Hasan Mushrif’s mills, which are linked to companies led by Ajit Pawar, had seen repeated visits by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged misappropriation of funds.

Similarly, erstwhile Congress person and erstwhile Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who manages the Bhaurao Chavan Cooperative Sugar Mill successful Nanded district, joined the BJP successful February this year, his detractors claimed Chavan was hoping to debar the glare of Central agencies. The Indian Express had reported successful April that arsenic galore arsenic 23 of 25 salient leaders who joined BJP since 2014 were either fto disconnected by the Central agencies oregon their cases were allowed to spell cold.

Cut to caller days. Samarjeet Ghatge, chairperson of the Shri Chhatrapati Sahu Cooperative Sugar Mill successful Kolhapur district, erstwhile seen arsenic adjacent to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was among the archetypal to alteration sides up of the Assembly elections. Asked if helium feared enactment from Central agencies, arsenic alleged by many, helium said, “The audit of the mill is successful nationalist domain. Anyone tin analyse the same.”

On Monday, erstwhile curate and BJP person Harshvardhan Patil became the latest sweetener baron to leap vessel to the Opposition side. Patil is the chairperson of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited and Karmayogi Shankarraoji Patil Cooperative Sugar Factory. At his induction, Sharad Pawar said Patil would beryllium the party’s contestant from the Indapur Assembly seat.

After making nationalist his determination to discontinue the BJP Friday, Patil said helium was doing it to honour the sentiments of his workers. “I was offered immoderate proposals by the Deputy Chief Minister, but if I agreed to them, it would person been selfish,” helium said. In a gathering with Fadnavis, Patil was reportedly offered a antithetic constituency oregon a Rajya Sabha berth arsenic consolation but helium refused saying his supporters wanted him to contention Indapur, a stronghold for Patil.

Patil’s instrumentality to the MVA fold came astir precisely 5 years aft helium discontinue the Congress to articulation the BJP up of the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls. At the time, the 61-year-old had cited the developmental docket of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah arsenic the crushed down his move.

This time, Patil’s exit was prompted by his tendency to contention the Assembly polls from his preferred Indapur constituency. State BJP main Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “The BJP could not bash this arsenic we person a sitting NCP (Ajit Pawar) MLA, Dattatrey Bharne, from Indapur. In specified a situation, it was hard to halt him.”

The exit of the sweetener barons comes erstwhile the BJP-led Mahayuti is already trying to get its location successful bid up of the Assembly polls. Unlike immoderate of the established Maratha families successful occidental Maharashtra, who tin power fractional a twelve seats, Patil’s electoral prowess is constricted to his ain Indapur constituency successful the Pune district. However, Patil is simply a seasoned person who is seen arsenic a past maestro astatine governmental management, peculiarly successful the sweetener belt. In authorities politics, Patil has friends crossed enactment lines, with the lone objection being his long-running rivalry, peculiarly successful Indapur, with Ajit Pawar.

After his decision successful the 2019 Assembly polls, erstwhile helium discontinue the Congress to articulation the BJP, Patil had failed to go either an MLC oregon Rajya Sabha MP oregon minister. It was lone successful February this twelvemonth that Patil was appointed arsenic president of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Federation.

Given the cash-incentive quality of their business, cooperative sweetener mills person ever tried to beryllium connected the close broadside of the enactment successful power. Thus, erstwhile the BJP came to powerfulness successful 2014, determination was a wide migration of sweetener barons to the saffron enactment from the NCP and Congress. In 2019, different spell of migration was observed, particularly from occidental Maharashtra. The inclination is present reversing, with barons present returning to the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP.

Party sources accidental that much names of sweetener barons who are expected to power sides are doing the rounds, including those successful Solapur and Ahmednagar districts.