Twenty year-old Vaishali Yede was completely devastated when her husband Sudhakar ended his life after failing to repay the debt because of repeated crop failure. She was two months pregnant and had a one-year-old son to look after. She could either follow in her husband’s footsteps or put up a fight. She chose the second option.

In the past nine years, Vaishali toiled hard to earn a livelihood and survive with her kids. Agitated with the apathy of politicians towards farmers and their widows, she decided to contest the Lok Sabha elections from her hometown Yavatmal – Washim, which falls in the region in Maharashtra where there have been a spate of suicides by farmers.

“MLAs and MPs don’t commit suicide. It is farmers who are dying in this arid part of the State. Only farmers can understand the farmers’ woes, and hence I felt that instead of blaming politicians, one should enter the system to change it,” Vaishali told BusinessLine .

The biggest challenge

The little-known Prahar Janshakti Party, led by Independent Maharashtra MLA Omprakash Bacchu Kadu, fighting for farmers’ causes, offered her nomination. “ I had just ₹500 with me when I decided to contest. The major challenge was to raise funds. I appealed to people for money and their vote,” she said.

Vaishali was pitted against the BJP-Sena’s sitting MP Bhavana Gawali and former State Congress President Manikrao Thakre. With hardly any funds to hire vehicles, she travelled in State transport buses to reach voters. “There were not many resources, but I tried to convince farmers that they should think differently and send their own representative to Parliament,” she said. Her campaign revolved around poverty, farm distress and suicides. However, voters in the constituency had another plan. They threw Vaishali out of the electoral arena ruthlessly and elected Gawali with a thumping margin. After securing just 1.76 per cent of the votes, the poor farm widow is back in the fields in search of livelihood.

Got 20,000 votes

“Farmers didn’t respond to my campaign. But nevertheless I got 20,000 votes. This means I have reached 20,000 people and convinced them about my point of view,” Vaishali said, adding that she has not lost hope. “Given a chance I would contest once again. I know money plays a big role in elections. But we have to fight all odds and keep trying to convince voters to vote on real issues,” she added.

In the past five years, Maharashtra saw 14,034 farmers — that’s eight a day — end their lives. But the agrarian crisis and farmers’ suicide was hardly debated during the campaign, and it did not reflect in voting machines as well.

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