Battle for Uttar Pradesh: All eyes on farmers

The farmers of the Jatland of western Uttar Pradesh had overwhelmingly voted for the BJP in the 2017 assembly polls in the state. All eyes are again set on them as the state is going to polls once again, beginning from February 10. Their 13-month-long agitation did force Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to concede one of their main demands – the repeal of the three contentious farm laws. But they are still very angry, for a variety of reasons – ranging from police atrocities on them during their agitation and the delay in withdrawal of cases against them to sugarcane price woes.

It is not just the prolonged apathy of the government during the protest that is making the farmers angry. They say that they have been getting a raw deal. Potato farmers point to procurement problems.

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They say the procurement is not happening and they have to pay a lot for cold storage facilities. They allege that the government has been making tall promises, but nothing is happening on the ground. Same is the case with sugarcane, as farmers argue that the increase in price was very low.

Rakesh Tikait of Bharatiya Kisan Union, one of the faces of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) that spearheaded the protest against the farm laws and influential Jat leader from the region, says farmers need not to be told whom to vote for after all what has happened in the recent past. The SKM has already announced ‘Mission UP’ to “punish the BJP”. SKM’s Yogendra Yadav says, “our appeal to people is to punish the BJP, which has taken anti-farmers’ actions. We are naming them. If someone says this during election time, what does it mean?”

One of the “emotional issues” is the killing of four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri last year and farmers continue to speak about it.

The opponents of the BJP point to the continuation of Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni in office although his son Ashish is accused of mowing down the protesting farmers.

Though Teni is not participating in the BJP’s campaign, no action has been taken against him, who, himself, is accused of making threatening statements against farmers and shielding his son using his clout in administration. The campaign on Lakhimpur Kheri has struck a chord among the farmers.

The agitation at the Delhi-UP border against the farm laws has deepened the farmers’ resolve to fight. They are upset and angry that the Centre has not honoured its promises made on December 9 last year following which they suspended their protest.

“None of the promises were kept,” says farmers’ leader Dr Darshan Pal. They point to the promises by the government, which include the process to legalise Minimum Support Price and withdrawal of cases against protesting farmers among others.

“Nothing has happened. The government has not taken any action so far. Why did the 700 farmers have to die? Should we trust this government?,” says Mahesh Chaudhary from Meerut.

The BJP candidates are facing trouble in some areas of the western UP, as black flags are waved at them during their campaigns. “Farmers are forced to sell their produce at half price. Why is there a delay in giving legal status to MSP?” asks Rakesh Singh. The sugarcane production cost has increased tremendously, but the price set by the government has not increased in such a way that it becomes profitable for the farmers, says Nitin Tyagi from Ghaziabad.

Another keenly watched angle would be whether the Jats and the Muslims, who have drifted apart following the riots in Muzaffarnagar in 2013, will bury their differences and once again act as a bloc as it did during the time of RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary’s grandfather Charan Singh, who had stitched the alliance.

Farmer leaders believe there will be no vote on communal lines this time as economic issues will take the centrestage, not anything else.

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