Bachchu Kadu, ex-minister and four-time MLA from Achalpur in Amravati district of Vidarbha | File Photo
Nagpur: Bachchu Kadu, ex-minister and four-time MLA from Achalpur in Amravati district of Vidarbha has resigned from the post of chairman of the state-level committee for welfare of the Divyangs (disabled persons). The post enjoys cabinet minister status.
“The state government is not serious about welfare of the divyangs and I do not want to be dishonest with the underprivileged disabled persons,” he said in his resignation letter.
Talking to FPJ on Saturday, Kadu said he had sent his resignation letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis as well as deputy CM Eknath Shinde. “It was during Shinde’s term as CM that Maharashtra became the first state in the country to form a separate ministry for the divyangs. But that was all. The work of the department never took off,” he said. Kadu was appointed chairman of the committee in May 2023. He put the resignation letter on his X handle on Friday.
Kadu’s main grudge is that the department was totally ineffective. “I made many recommendations but none was implemented. In several states a disabled person gets Rs 4000 per month as government assistance. But in Maharashtra it’s a paltry Rs 1500. I wanted the allowance hiked, but they did not do it. Many other of my suggestions for the welfare of the disabled were ignored,” Kadu said, adding that the state was not serious in the matter.
The maverick leader is the founder of the Prahar Janshakti Party and won four consecutive terms as MLA from Achalpur, since his first term in 2004 when he resorted to crowd-funding to meet election expenses. But this time, in 2024 elections, Kadu lost to Pravin Tayade of the BJP by a margin of around 12000 votes in a triangular fight where Aniruddha Deshmukh of the Congress ate away over 62000 votes.
Moreover, his plan to form a ‘third front’ with half a dozen smaller parties and leaders like ex-MP Raju Shetty, ex-MLA Wamanrao Chatap, failed miserably as they could not win any of the 120 seats they contested.
Kadu is often in the news for his novel agitation style. Many times he has climbed a high overhead water tank or tower or come to blows with officials or the police to attract attention while taking up social causes.
He has threatened again to lead a public agitation from Jan 7 before Amravati divisional commissioner office to demand farm loan waiver which he claims was promised by the Mahayuti during recent election campaign.
