The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is once again facing a protest as farmers’ amass on borders with Delhi. The farmers are pressing for their demands for legal sanctity to Minimum Support Prices (MSPs), as well as waiver of farm loans. The BJP has not been caught off guard, as the party leaders argue strongly that they are now habituated with pre-poll protests in parts of the country.
BJP is protest vaccinated
The BJP leaders now maintain that the party-led government at the Centre headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has seen too many protests in the last 10 years. There had been multiple protests by farmers, mostly originating from Punjab and western parts of Uttar Pradesh. In between, there had also been protests against the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act, alleged dilution of the law for prevention of cruelties against scheduled castes and tribes, amendments to the land acquisition law, etc.
A number of the protests were seen ahead of key elections. The BJP was seen to be in a spot of bother in western UP ahead of the 2019 general elections. But the BJP trounced the combined might of the Opposition. The BJP candidates came out on top even against the top Jat leaders late Ajit Singh (Muzaffarnagar) and Jayant Chaudhary (Mathura).
MSP Law is anti-thesis to ‘Modinomics’
The law on MSP was also a priority in the 2021 farm protests. The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), too is seen to be sympathetic to the demand. They principally argue that the law will protect the farmers from market fluctuations in prices of grains after the harvest season.
But PM Modi has given ample insights into his outlook for agriculture. He wants farmers to be empowered through enabling measures which help them cut down on the input costs for which measures such as neem-coated urea, nano-urea, PM Kisan Nidhi Scheme, etc., were unveiled. The Modi government clearly knows that the idea of a law on MSP is outdated, and agriculture needs to look ahead for innovations to become a remunerative profession for farmers.
Loan Waiver is Congress poll template
The BJP is also drawing confidence from the fact that the recently held Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh revealed that the people are expressing support to ‘Brand Modi’ despite aggressive poll pitch by the Congress on populist measures. The Congress had promised farm loan waiver in state polls along with several other cash-based entitlement promises. Check LIVE Updates of Farmers' Protest here
The BJP, thus, looks at a political plot behind the protests by the farmers. The ruling party has reasons to be confident on account of that the farmers historically have not been an electoral voting entity. When it comes to elections, the farmers vote on reasons other than their agrarian background. They vote on caste lines, as well as sub-regional and national issues. This adds to the confidence of the BJP to withstand another episode of protest by farmers. It may well also be said that the Modi government has protest vaccinations.
Manish Anand is a senior Delhi-based journalist. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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