The recent exit of MVA ally and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana (SSS) chief Raju Shetti from the ruling coalition in Maharashtra has evoked scarcely a whimper amid the high decibel political war of words over raids by central enforcement agencies on ministers and their extended families.
When NCP chief Sharad Pawar was asked about the possible consequences of Mr. Shetti’s exit at a recent press conference in New Delhi, he merely shrugged and observed that the farmer leader had been disenchanted with the State government for a while now.
Meanwhile, Mr Shetti — twice MP from Hatkanangale in Kolhapur and formerly allied with the BJP — now considers himself a “free man”, not bound by any ties to the four major parties [BJP, Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party, Congress] in the State.
