Political gimmick for simultaneous polls, says Cong

The Opposition, led by the Congress, termed the Union Cabinet’s decision on Wednesday to increase minimum support price (MSP) of 14 crops a political gimmick, and read it as a portent that the Narendra Modi government could be exploring to hold Lok Sabha polls simultaneously with assembly polls to several states.

Lok Sabha elections are scheduled for April-May

2019. Assembly elections to key north Indian states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, along with northeastern state of Mizoram, are slated for November-December. But the Modi government is keen to hold assembly elections to these states, and some more, simultaneously with the Lok Sabha (LS) polls.

The MSP increase in paddy will have an electoral bearing in paddy growing areas, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Haryana, Punjab, and Chhattisgarh. The MSP increase in oilseeds and pulses will affect farmers in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and that in millets in Rajasthan.

The Modi government, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), went into overdrive to advertise the decision. Four senior ministers – Rajnath Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Radha Mohan Singh, and Harsimrat Kaur Badal – addressed the press conference to announce the decision on Wednesday afternoon.

Nearly a dozen senior Union ministers have been asked to travel to different corners of the country to spread the word. BJP chief Amit Shah was in Mirzapur, which is located in electorally important Uttar Pradesh, where he extolled the decision as “historic”.

Several BJP chief ministers also hailed the announcement, and have been asked to deploy publicity departments of their respective governments to showcase the farmer friendly policies of the Modi government. Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the Modi government was under pressure because of farmer discontent. “It is an electoral lollipop,” Surjewala said, pointing out that a procurement policy was not in place and large parts of northern India were unlikely to be covered.

The All India Kisan Sabha, affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), termed the MSP increase a betrayal of the PM’s promise of MSP increase based on of A2+C2 formula. Its leader Ashok Dhawale said the announcement was notional as public procurement was taking place only in a few crops like paddy and wheat, and that too is below 20 per cent of the total production.

The MSP increase in paddy will have an electoral bearing in paddy growing areas, including UP, Bihar, Odisha, Haryana, etc