Former MLA Bachchu Kadu Asks Farmers to Target Legislators Instead of Ending Own Life

Mumbai: Former MLA Bachchu Kadu has ignited a controversy with his provocative remarks urging farmers to kill MLAs instead of resorting to suicide. The statement has drawn strong criticism with Maharashtra minister Sanjay Shirsat urging Kadu to stop inciting farmers.

Kadu’s remarks came during a farmers’ conference in Paturda village in the Buldhana district, where he ‘advised’ them to target legislators instead of committing suicide, including targeting legislators.

Kadu, who heads the Prahar Janshakti Party which was earlier in alliance with the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, said, “If cotton gets a price of Rs 3,000, what will you do? You’ll say you’ll commit suicide. Hey, instead of committing suicide, kill someone, slash a legislator, then there will be no need to think about suicide.”

He went further, suggesting, “Rather than committing suicide, it's better to go to a legislator’s house, take off all your clothes and sit there and urinate in front of the house; that’s better than dying.”

Kadu’s remarks come just months after he was convicted in August for assaulting a public servant in a seven-year-old case. The Maharashtra court sentenced the former MLA to three months’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000, noting that being a legislator “didn’t give him a licence” to attack. His sentence was, however, suspended until he appeals to a higher court, and he was granted bail.

Sanjay Shirsat, Maharashtra minister for social justice, accused Kadu of inciting the farmers. “Instead of trying to instigate others, if you have the courage, kill the MLA yourself,” he said.

NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said Kadu is a farmer, and should “properly guide farmers instead of resorting to violence”.

“Kadu should profess and practice the Gandhian way of non-violence and fasts which has brought several government to their knees. Violence is certainly not the solution to any problem.”