5. While it is true that the Congress (I) which has been more or less continuously in power since independence is our enemy number one, but the communal parties – whether they are saffron, green, blue, yellow or of any other hue – are absolute devils. (Shetkari Sanghatak, 6 November 1994) With this five-point policy framework in mind, Joshi made various attempts to make inroads into electoral politics but never succeeded. A few of them should be mentioned here at least briefly. First attempt was with Dr Datta Samant with whom Joshi had interacted during the very first agitation of onion growers in 1980. Joshi formed an alliance with his Kamgar Aghadi (Workers’ Front). Samant was a new entrant to politics but had done quite well in Mumbai because of his strong working class base. He controlled most of the trade unions there. Samant and Joshi had a joint meeting in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on 12 December 1985 during the struggle against synthetic fiber as was mentioned earlier. The possibility of forging the unity between workers led by Samant and farmers led by Joshi was quite an attractive one and could have been harbinger of hope for the entire country. But the possibility just remained a mirage. Nothing concrete ever came out of the many negotiations the two leaders held. SS had also tried to form an alliance with Shiv Sena, the strong regional party. Manohar Joshi had visited Ambethan when he was Chief Minister of Maharashtra and even Balasaheb Thackeray, the Shiv Sena supremo, had once been there. It was rumoured that he had said to Joshi, ‘You take care of the rural area and we shall take care of the cities. Together we shall sweep the polls.’ He had, allegedly, offered Joshi the Chief Minister’s position. But again, nothing materialized out of this. Similar experience Joshi had with Bharatiya Janata Party. 252
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Sharad Joshi : Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage
