Farmers in MP set to force a change in political discourse

After six deaths, thousands of litres of spilt milk and destruction of tonnes of vegetables, the 10-day farmers’ agitation in Madhya Pradesh has seemingly gained less than it bargained for. But a close look reveals the political discourse is set to change and the leaderless farmers have become more united , courtesy social media.

Detractors of the agitation say that demands of the farmers, including loan waiver and implementation of Swaminathan report, remain unaddressed. The arson in Mandsaur and other places in the state gave farmers a bad name, they say.

But on ground, things are changing. This was by far a leaderless movement, bypassing the traditional farmer leaders and political parties and led by the Patidars in the state. The movement was largely fuelled by social media with various WhatsApp and Facebook groups interacting and dictating its pace and direction. Patidar Samaj state president Mahendra Patidar says they have gained much when it comes to networking with other farmers’ organisations across the state. “Now, it will be a more coordinated nation-wide agitation,” he said.

“80%of Patidars are BJP supporters but we have been shortchanged over the years. We are what the Muslims are to Congress, a community that is being taken for granted. Five deaths for our community are hard to digest. We won’t vote for BJP,” Mahendra Patidar told HT.

And that is something that is worrying the ruling party.

A BJP leader said the party fears its strong base will erode if such movements spread, bypassing the established political channels. “New farmer leaders are coming up and so we have been asked to reach out to all the farmers at the local level, take them into confidence so that their grievances are channelled through us,” he said.

Narendra Nahata, former minister in the Congress government and a resident of Mandsaur, said, “The aggressive BJP has been pushed to the back foot, Shivraj’s halo has gone.”

That the farmers are united across the country is borne out by Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh (RKMS) member secretary Binod Anand, who said the Sangh had a meeting with 62 other farmers’ organisation under the banner of Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh a couple of days ago in Delhi and chalked out a plan for action.