This decision of Shetkari Mahila Aaghadi to contest elections was irksome to all political parties who were just not prepared for that possibility. The elections of Zilla Parishads which were to be held immediately after Chandwad Assembly were postponed three times in a row out of the fear that Shetkari Mahila Aaghadi would capture several seats. Women took out several processions and held meetings to demand elections but the government did not yield. One outcome of that was the law passed by the Government of Maharashtra to provide for reservation to women in the local government bodies. In a way, Sanghatana was never in favour of any such reservation, but that time it made an exception. Even the Central Government provided for 30% reservation for women in its new Panchayat Raj Bill. In fact most of the clauses mentioned by Shetkari Mahila Aaghadi in its election manifesto were incorporated in that Bill. That was a major impact of Shetkari Mahila Aaghadi on local level political process. From there on, women began to participate in various agitations of SS in a much bigger way. This was particularly observed in Vidarbha Region. So many women would come forward to court arrest that the Police did not have enough jails to put them in. Four hundred women workers trained by Shetkari Mahila Aaghadi contested gram panchayat elections in February 1992 and out of them one hundred won. They did not win using the names of their husbands as often was the case with political parties. Even their family members were surprised by the leadership qualities they displayed. Till that stage most of them had seldom left their homes and farms. Even in subsequent years several Shetkari Mahila Aaghadi workers held positions of power in local administration, albeit having contested on behalf of some political party or the other. The credit for imbibing the basic training in Panchayat Raj system should go to Shetkari Mahila Aaghadi.
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Sharad Joshi : Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage
