Vaishali Yede, a 28-year-old widow of a farmer who killed himself in 2011, has forayed into the electoral battle from the Yavatmal-Washim Lok Sabha constituency. What makes her campaign unique is the humble amounts pouring in from farmers and sympathisers from across the country. From ₹1 to ₹51,000, Ms. Yede has managed to collect nearly ₹5 lakh for her campaign in just a week.
An anganwadi worker, Ms. Yede is contesting from Prahar Janshakti Paksha led by independent MLA Omprakash Babaroa Kadu popularly known as Bacchu Kadu. “I am travelling by bus, auto rickshaws and mostly on foot from one village to another to campaign. The donations that we are getting help us cover the travel, food and some other costs,” says Ms. Yede, who starts the conversation with a disclaimer that she doesn’t understand politics and thus cannot be questioned about other politicians. “I know what affects the farmers and it will be the focus of my fight,” says the mother of two — nine-year-old Kunal and seven-year-old Jhanvi.
As she stopped for a lunch break in an open field in Manora village, around 105 km away from Yavatmal, The Hindu caught up with her. Though Ms. Yede is not a popular face, crowds gather for Mr. Kadu who is campaigning for her aggressively. While both address villagers in what they call a gaon bhet (village meet), party workers pass around a donation box where farmers make voluntary donations. “We are getting contributions of ₹1, ₹5, and ₹10. These contributions from the farmers mean a lot to us,” says Mr. Kadu adding that a Dubai-based man has sent ₹5,000, while a group of farmers from Nashik collected ₹51,000, a Solapur-based farmer sent 10 gunny bags of rice and wheat, and a farmer from Gujarat had called inquiring about Ms. Yede’s bank details. “Through these humble contributions, we have received ₹4 lakhs in Ms Yede’s bank account and ₹1 lakh in the donation boxes,” he said.
Ms. Yede kickstarted her campaign on March 29 by distributing milk outside a local bar sending out a strong message that she was in support of an alcohol ban in the district. Yavatmal is Vidarbha’s district worst-affected by farmers suicides. “Drought, crop failure and mounting loans drive farmers towards alcohol addiction as well. It is an evil that needs to be curbed”, said Ms. Yede.
She hit the limelight in January this year after giving an inaugural speech at the 92nd Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, a literature festival, in Yavatmal. At that time, Mr. Kadu was contemplating to pitch an aggrieved farmer or widow to expose their plight. “We had a candidate who was willing to spend ₹5 crore for the party and ₹1 crore on campaigning. But we decided to go ahead with Ms. Yede,” he said.
“By fielding her, we wanted to take the core issues of the farmers at the national level. We have achieved what we wanted,” said Mr. Kadu who is campaigning only in the rural areas where the villagers can relate to Ms. Yede’s struggles.
Ms Yede promises to bring water to the farms, strategise to increase the price of the crop yields and ensure that the Gharkul scheme, that offers homes to farmers’ widows, is implemented. “It’s been eight years since my husband killed himself. I have not received anything accept ₹1 lakh as compensation. I will do everything to ensure that people like me get the benefits,” said Ms. Yede, whose husband Sudhakar had consumed poison and was found dead in their three-acre farmland where he made many failed attempts to grow cotton and tur. He had a loan of ₹70,000 from a private lender which he couldn’t repay.