Some villagers also donate some cash to Bhagare for his election campaign.
On his way to another village, Bhagare reaches a nearby tea stall where some farmers are having tea. Bhagare joins them, and the farmers promptly offer him a cup. Bhagare spends some time with the group and listens to their grievances, including the losses they incurred due to Centre’s ban on onion exports.
Bhagare pacifies them and tells them that he is aware of the farmers’ woes, and that the INDIA bloc, in its manifesto, has promised a blanket waiver of crop loans, MSP for farm produce, and a rollback of GST on seeds, fertilizers and agricultural implements.
Thereafter, Bhagare leaves for Mohadi, another nearby village. He meets residents here and addresses them. Villagers donate over Rs 1.5 lakh for Bhagare’s poll campaign.
This has been the NCP(SCP) candidate’s daily routine since the announcement of his candidature by the party. His day begins early in the morning at 7am and continues late into the night.
Bhagare, who is a teacher by profession, expresses his gratitude to NCP(SCP) chief Sharad Pawar and MVA brass for showing faith in him. Since the announcement of his candidature by the NCP(SCP) on March 31, Bhagare has been campaigning hard. Every day, he visits at least 20-25 villages and interacts with farmers. He has his breakfast before leaving home, but eats his lunch in a car on the way. Sometimes, lunch is also arranged by party workers during his visit. He has his dinner only after returning home.
Bhagare is contesting the Dindori Lok Sabha seat against BJP’s sitting MP and Union minister of state for health and family welfare Bharati Pawar. The Dindori LS constituency, which includes six state assembly segments, is the major onion belt of the district with 80% (2.4 lakh hectares) of the total 3 lakh hectares under cultivation devoted to onions. There are around 950 villages in the constituency. As it is difficult to reach every village, Bhagare appeals to people to approach the voters near their villages as it is “their” election too.
Bhagare says there is strong resentment among people against BJP-led central govt as it has failed to address the issues of farmers and common people. Furthermore, there are issues pertaining to water, poor health infrastructure, etc., which the sitting BJP MP has failed to address.
“I will definitely win the Dindori Lok Sabha seat in the coming fifth phase of election by a large margin. If I win, I will make efforts to develop the constituency and address the issues of onion farmers,” says Bhagare.
