BATHINDA: The farmers’ ire against the BJP has turned against other political parties as well even if they have supported the agitation for all these nine months.
Seeking a repeal of three central agricultural marketing laws and a law that guarantees minimum support price (MSP) for every crop, farmers continue to sit on the borders of Delhi. The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which controls the protest, might have asked its cadre to oppose just the BJP but the local rural units in Punjab have barred all politicians from more than 100 villages and put up flex boards and banners to announce this. Farmers say this is to stop politicisation of their struggle in the assembly elections.
Being the first to sound the poll bugle, the SAD is the biggest loser, as farmers have boycotted its ‘Gall Punjab Di’ campaign, under which party president Sukhbir Singh Badal is out to cover 100 constituencies in 100 days. They have also protested against new Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu and, in the past few day, taken on the Punjab government in Jalandhar for an increase in the state-advised price (SAP) of sugarcane and a payment of Rs 200 crore arrears.
Their road and rail blockades had forced the Ferozepur and Ambala divisions to cancel many trains, including the elite Shatabadi Express. The protest, however, ended on Tuesday, after the chief minister announced a Rs 50 per quintal hike in the SAP of sugarcane for 2021-22 season.
During last month’s Kisan Sansad held parallel to the actual Parliament’s monsoon session, some of the Congress MPs took their flak for skipping the House debates for Sidhu’s coronation. Even though the party highlighted the farmers’ cause along with the Pegasus spyware case, farmer unionist Balbir Singh Rajewal singled it out in his address from the Singhu border. Even the AAP faced protests, even though on a smaller scale.
As elections approach in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand, the farmers’ protests in these states have got shriller. They have a Mission UP to vote out the BJP from that state, but a senior farmer unionist said they could extend it to the Congress in Punjab.
Buta Singh Burjgill of BKU (Ekta-Dakaunda) said, “Farmers’ anger against politicians is coming out. They have occupied Delhi borders for nine months and more than 100 spots across Punjab for close to a year, yet the parties have guarded only their interests and it reflected in how the Punjab government kept the sugarcane price static for four years. If politicking is their sole concern, even the SKM may have to think.”
Punjab’s biggest farmer unionist Joginder Singh Ugrahan said, “We don’t believe in electoral politics or any political party. They all are the same after coming to power. The local units display their anger but we haven’t yet decided to boycott all political parties. There will be an appropriate time.”
On September 5, the SKM has called a national mahapanchatyat at Muzzafarnagar. A senior member of this conglomerate of 40 farmer unions said its oust-BJP campaigns in UP and Uttarakhand were a warning to the other parties that “back us or get a similar treatment”. Initially, the farmers had come for a six-month protest, but are now dug in until at least the assembly elections due early next year.
AAP MLA retreats from village
AAP MLA from Nihal Singh Wala Manjit Singh Bilaspur had to make a “retreat” from Daala village on Wednesday evening when farmers started questioning him about his absence for four-and-a-half years. As per farmers, MLA Manjit Singh could not answer their questions and left.
“As per the directions issued by Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, we wanted him to reveal reasons behind his prolonged absence, but he had no answer and preferred to go back. We will ask every political leader in our village to know what he/she has done for the welfare or development of the place and what role they played in farmers’ protest,” said farmer Mohinder Singh. The MLA did not respond to repeated calls
