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 had consumed poison and her body was found on the terrace of their Pune bungalow. However, he stayed on to complete the meeting and at one in the afternoon rushed to Pune. Many years later, in 2009, while speaking at the meeting of the SS Executive Committee in Parbhani, Joshi recalled that tragic incident in very moving words. He said, ‘There is one more memory which I don’t generally share with anybody but it keeps pricking my mind all the time. We had realized that the farmers’ movement which we had started in Maharashtra had to be an all India movement. Keeping that in mind we called a meeting of like-minded farmers’ leaders in October 1981. While I was preparing for the travel to Wardha, my wife Leela insisted that I should not go. When she realized that I was firm on going, she said, with much exasperation and anger, “Though we are insisting that you should not go, you are leaving me and our daughters behind and going there. Remember that one day these farmers would also desert you in the same manner.” When I see whatever has happened in this family of Sanghatana in the past and whatever keeps happening even now, I feel that my wife’s curse has come true.’

The work of KCC continued albeit at a low key. Joshi himself got immersed in fighting local agitations and the same was true of other leaders. All that they could do was to meet once or twice a year and when there was any possibility to support each other by participating in local struggles. But such participation was largely symbolic. Goodwill for each other could not be converted into a united force to confront the powerful government. However, Joshi was always keen to do some major action at the national level. One issue arose in subsequent years which had the potential to make a national headline; freedom from perpetual 266

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Sharad Joshi : Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage