Jalna (Maharashtra): A man from Jalna district of Maharashtra sold 50 acres of land to become an MLA-MP. This is a story of Babasaheb Shinde.
Shinde, who hails from Bapkal in Jalna district wanted to become a MLA and MP through democratic means. He contested from the Badnapur Assembly constituency as an independent candidate in 1980 Maharashtra polls, but he lost the election.
However, 72-year-old Babasaheb Shinde did not stop. His faith in democracy only grew further and so far he has contested 14 assembly elections and nine Lok Sabha elections. His deposit was confiscated in all these elections. However, he has once again entered the fray of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
He is preparing for the Lok Sabha elections with new vigor and strength. He is again ready to file his nomination form for the 10th time for Lok Sabha polls.
"My only intention was that the rights given by democracy should reach the citizens at every level. I have entered politics to get an opportunity to serve the citizens," Babasaheb Shinde told ETV Bharat on Wednesday.
According to Shinde, he has contested Lok Sabha elections for nine times and the Maharashtra Assembly elections for 14 times so far.
"In 1978, when I was studying, I received an offer from a particular party, but I did not accept it," he recalled.
"I had 50 acres of land which I sold to pursue my dream of becoming an MLA or an MP. My aim is to serve the people only in a democratic way and that service I can offer only becoming an MLA and MP. While my dream remains unfulfilled, my 50 acres of land has gone."
He further said that he has also left his relatives and and near ones. "Now I am landless, still I am going to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election. One of the points in my manifesto is how the last person of this country will get justice and people should get the rights given in the Constitution."
"No one has got their last rights since independence, the (Central) Government shows one thing and does another. The government is just giving fake promises and the citizens are keeping quiet. While one one hand the Centre is sending a spacecraft to the moon, on the other hand, people are spending their nights on a hungry stomach. This is a tragedy," he concluded.
