BJP may lose out on farmer vote base
MP goes to polls next year and pundits feel the turmoil might turn the farmers against the ruling party.
BHOPAL: The killing of five farmers in police firing in Madhya Pradesh is a bad news for chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, 14 years after the BJP swept to power. The state goes to polls next year and political commentators feel the current turmoil might turn the farming community against the ruling party.
The BJP is, however, keeping a brave face . “This was Congress-sponsored violence. In such a situation, the Congress will not gain anything politically. The state government has fulfilled almost every demand of the farmers in the past over 10 years,” said former MP and veteran BJP leader Kailash Sarang.
But many others disagree. “Congress has really benefited in the short term, but it remains to be seen if it would be able to cash in on the situation in the long run,” said political commentator Girijashankar.
In a state where farmers account for a sizable chunk of the 50 million electorate, the political ramifications of the farmer deaths could be huge.
The nervous government initially attempted to deny the complicity of the police after news broke that farmers agitating for better crop prices had been fired at in Mandsaur on Tuesday. Through the day, the CM and home minister Bhupendra Singh went on record to say, “Police didn’t fire at farmers.”
By evening, however, the tone and tenor of party leaders had turned defensive. The home minister admitted the police fired at the crowd in “self-defence”. The government also increased the compensation to the families of the victims from ~5 lakh to ~1 crore, the largest ex-gratia payment in Madhya Pradesh so far.
Many, including those in the administration, are blaming the CM. First, he had reportedly refused to acknowledge the agitation when it bega, and then dubbed the protesters as “anti-social elements” .
Rather than engaging with the farmers, the CM is also accused of seeking to divide them by ignoring their leaders such as Shivkumar Sharma and Anil Yadav. Instead, he struck a bargain with the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), a farmer body associated with the Rashritya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The BKS immediately announced its withdrawal from the agitation on Sunday, angering the farmers in western Madhya Pradesh.
To make matters worse, state BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan said the farmers affiliated with the BKS would felicitate the CM for defusing the agitation by marginally raising the procurement prices for onions and lentils. The statement alienated the farmers more, even forcing the BKS to distance itself from the planned felicitation.
POLITICAL SLUGFEST
The tragic events in Mandsaur have given fresh ammunition for another round of political slug fest. Congress is trying to seize the opportunity and punch holes in the state government’s claim of successfully turning around the agrarian economy.
Congress spokesman Bhupendra Gupta said, “Chief minister Chouhan spoke of farmers’ welfare all these years but did precious little”.
The party is hoping the perception would grow that economic benefits have bypassed the farmers. State BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agarwal, however, maintained that Congress plans would come to a naught, pointing to the Centre’s Krishi Karman award that the state won five times in a row and the state’s annual agricultural growth of about 20%.