Baroda assembly bye-polls in Haryana on November 3 would be a litmus test for the two main rival parties of the state to assess the political waters on the new farm bills, which have stirred the hornet's nest amongst the farmers in the state.
While senior BJP and JJP leaders are claiming that the farm bills are beneficial for the farmers, the opposition parties including Congress and INLD are protesting in the streets claiming that it was anti-farmer. Baroda assembly seat in Sonipat district fell vacant in April following the demise of sitting Congress legislator Sri Krishan Hooda.
Dr Anand Kumar, Associated Professor, Institute of Integrated and Honours Studies, Kurukshetra University said that winning the November-3 bye-poll to the Baroda assembly segment may not mean much numerically for the ruling BJP-JJP alliance in the 90-member Haryana’s Vidhan Sabha. However, losing the Jat-dominated seat that it has never won would certainly reflect badly on their image, especially of the BJP.
For the opposition Congress, retaining the constituency that has been its stronghold would certainly be a confidence-booster.
At this point in time, there are widespread protests and resentment against the BJP-JJP leaders from the farmer community. Opposition will try its best to keep the farmers’ protests alive for another month and hope to gain from it on November 3. They are already planning a month-long multiple protests across the state and rallies in support of farmers and against the state government.
Kumar said that Baroda is a constituency that the BJP has never won. Even though JJP has rural roots, the new party is also likely to face difficulties in wooing the rural voters owing to the growing anger and distrust of farmers in the ruling BJP-JJP government. He said that three farm bills passed in the parliament is likely to be on centerstage in Baroda bye-polls because Haryana is an agrarian state and a majority of voters in the Baroda constituency belong to the rural areas. There has been dissatisfaction among some sections of farmers over it. These bills may prove to be one of the major hurdles for the BJP in the Baroda bye-polls. Congress and INLD will raise this issue. However, the role of local issues in determining electoral choices cannot be dismissed out of hand. The welfare measures taken by the Centre and State governments over the six years may give over edge to BJP candidate in this election, he added.
Talking to ‘The Pioneer’ over the phone, Haryana BJP chief Om Prakash Dhankar said that party election committee meeting will be held on October 10 to discuss the name of candidate. The central party leadership will decide the final name of candidate for Baroda bye-polls. The ruling coalition will win the bye-poll on the development plank, he said.
Asked about opposition leaders trying to make farm bills the central issue in Baroda bye-polls, Dhankar said that the Congress leaders are trying hard to mislead farmers in the name of MSP but farmers will not follow them. "Congress remained in power at the Centre as well as the State for long periods between 1966 to 2014. Why did it not bring any Act to give a legal guarantee to MSP? Will Rahul Gandhi explain it before the farmers? Congress has no concerns for the welfare of farmers but only this party is misleading the farmers for its vested interests, he added.
“Our party leaders and workers are reaching out to farmers explaining them benefit of the farm bills. Farmers now started understanding the benefits of farm bills and Congress will be exposed in this election,” he added. Dhankar said that central and state leadership have been assuring the farmers that MSP regime will continue. The new farm laws are in the larger interest of farmers and the “positive impact” of these reforms in the agriculture sector will be visible in the near future.
Dhankar said, “We have urged party leaders to conduct small meetings in groups of five over 'chai' and explain the nuances of the bills to farmers. They need to educate the farmers in very simplified language about the importance and intricacies of the new farm reforms, how these will empower them.”
When contacted, Leader of opposition and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that party will soon declare its candidates for Baroda bye-polls. He would hit the campaign trail after the name of the party nominee was finalised. Terming the Centre’s agriculture-related ordinances as anti-farmer, Hooda said the BJP government has been consistently taking decisions to harm the farming community. “In the bye-poll, people will teach the party, which has shown disrespect to farmers, a lesson,” the former Chief Minister said.
Hooda further said that farmers and youth were the two segments hit hard by the policies of the government. While farmers were out on the streets, the condition of the youth was no different because of high rate of unemployment. He said the government wants to promote the capitalists by demolishing the government buying mechanism which had been set up to protect the interests of the farmers.
JJP leader Digvijay Chautala said that the BJP-JJP nominee will win this seat and people are waiting to teach a lesson to the Hooda family in the bye-polls as “they did nothing for them except, grabbing their votes”.
INLD spokesperson Rakesh Sihag said that INLD has started ‘Khaat Yatra’ and party leader Arjun Chautala is visiting eight villages every day in Baroda assembly to canvass for his party. He said that under the leadership of senior INLD leader including Abhay Chautala, party leaders and workers have been protesting over farm bills in 14 districts from Tuesday. “People and farmers are fed up with BJP-JJP coalition government. This constituency has remained a stronghold of INLD and people will elect their candidate as they have strong bonds with his family,” he added.