While top leaders spearheading the farmers’ agitation are negotiating with the Union Government to reach a settlement but in the eyes of common farmers “Kisan Kranti Yatra” certainly has political overtones ahead of the Lok Sabha polls due next year as they are holding ruling dispensation responsible for their “plight”.
This has set alarm bells ringing for the BJP. Farmers particularly of sugar-cane belt of Western Uttar Pradesh (UP) are cross with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging that the “middlemen” are still eating their pie while the common farmers are at the receiving end.
The farmers West UP, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab left their homes for Delhi and traversed through the length and breadth of North India in a week long journey along with their tractors and trolleys. However, their march was halted on Delhi borders by the heavy deployment of police which resorted to mild use of force to contain the march.
The Pioneer spoke to the farmers who came marching all the way from Haridwar to Delhi and were “baffled” and “perplexed” by the high-table settlement being reached at by their leaders.
“Indian farmers voted overwhelmingly for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2014 general election that swept him to power.
However crash in commodity prices and surging fuel costs have made life difficult for the farmers”, said a septuagenarian from Baghpat district, who travelled in his tractor braving all odds.
“No doubt, there was a wave for Modi in 2014, but farmers are disenchanted with him now,” said sugar cane grower Billu Chaudhary from Meerut Partapur village sitting in protest and smoking a Bidi adding that Modi promised to double farmers’ income but our earning has halved because of his apathy and anti-farmer policies.
Farmers are also angry over a sharp rise in the pump price of diesel and a steep hike in electricity tariffs. Many farmers across the country use diesel to run tractors for ploughing and tractor trolleys for moving their produce to wholesale markets. They depend on electricity to operate irrigation pumps.
“ Small farmers have been hit by rising costs of living. They have benefited little from increased Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sugarcane as a web of middlemen in India’s agricultural markets, gobble up the profit” said Sukhpal Singh, from Barwala village in Muzaffarnagar.
“Diesel prices have shot up by more than 40 per cent and power tariffs have surged by more than 20 per cent in the past two years.
Villages account for most of India’s diesel consumption and that’s why higher prices pinch farmers the most, but diesel in India is much more expensive than Bhutan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka,” said Gajendra Singh, a farmer from Shamli.
Police action to stop farmers from entering into the national Capital evoked sharp reaction from the Opposition parties as they attacked Centre over police action, and termed it “unfulfilled promises” by the Narendra Modi Government and increasing farmer distress.
“On International Day of Non-Violence, the BJP’s Gandhi Jayanti celebrations started with an attack on farmers who were peacefully marching to register their protest, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said. “Now the farmers can’t even express their woes,” he tweeted.
“Peaceful and unarmed farmers going towards Raj Ghat were brutally treated, they were lathicharged and teargas shells fired on them. We condemn this,” said KC Tyagi of Janata Dal (United).
The Congress party’s youth wing tweeted, “Is this the India Gandhiji dreamt and died for? Modi Govt forcibly bans farmers from sharing their problems with the Govt. Is India not a democracy? Just shows that BJP Govt only supports their rich friends and no one else; not the youth, or women or farmers! Shame.”
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said farmers should be allowed to enter Delhi. “Why are they not being allowed to enter Delhi? This is wrong. We are with the farmers,” he said.
Former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav also came in the support of farmers’ demand.
“This Government has not fulfilled the promises it made to the farmers, so it is natural that farmers would protest. It is unfortunate and we fully support the farmers,” said the Samajwadi Party chief.