Mumbai, Sep 19 (Inditop.com) Kalawati Bandurkar, the poor widow whose name Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had mentioned in his parliament speech last year, will be contesting the Maharashtra assembly polls as a candidate of the Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti, a party official said Saturday.
After the speech, for a while Kalawati had become the name and the face of the plight being faced by farmers in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Many farmers in the region have been forced to commit suicide after their crops failed and they could not pay off their debts.
Samiti president Kishore Tiwari said Kalawati, 48, who lives in Jalka village in Vidarbha, is contesting the assembly polls slated Oct 13.
Gandhi had been moved by her plight during a visit to the village last year and had mentioned her in his speech during the July 22, 2008 trust motion.
rounak