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Kangana, Daler Mehndi part of BJP campaign to allay fears on farm bills, slam opposition

BJP also instructs state units, MPs and farmers’ wing to organise campaigns online and offline, to counter ‘misinformation’ being spread about the reforms.

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New Delhi: Amid clamour from opposition parties and farmer groups, the BJP has started a multi-pronged campaign to allay fears about the farm bills passed by Parliament, and brought on board celebrities such as actor Kangana Ranaut and singer Daler Mehndi to spread its word.

Opposition parties are up in arms against the three farming reform bills — in particular about the one to reform agricultural produce marketing committees (APMC). Farmers are also on the streets against the bill, which they say will end the mandi system and the minimum support price (MSP) regime.

The three bills, which are to replace the ordinances promulgated by the Narendra Modi government on APMCs, contract farming and amending the Essential Commodities Act in June, have all been passed by the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha passed two of them in a contentious voice vote Sunday — the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services bill, 2020, and the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) bill, 2020, were passed through voice vote

But with the reforms becoming a hot topic in many places across the country, the BJP has now asked its state units, MPs and Kisan Morcha (farmers’ wing) to organise campaigns online and offline to counter the “misinformation” being spread by opposition parties.


Also read: How Modi govt’s 3 contentious farm bills have exposed SAD, Congress & BJP’s hypocrisy


The plan

A day after Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who belongs to BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal, resigned from the Modi cabinet on the issue of the farmers’ agitations, PM Modi, while launching a railway bridge on Kosi river in Bihar Friday, outlined his government and party’s strategy on the farm bills. Most of his speech was devoted to allaying fears over the farm bills, in particular the bill to reform the APMC/mandi system.

The BJP has asked each of its state units to start information campaigns through social media, and organise farmers’ meets. The Kisan Morcha will start a booth-level ‘atmanirbhar’ campaign from 25 September, the birth anniversary of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, one of the people who shaped the BJP’s ideology.

BJP units have been instructed to run a social media campaign with fact-sheets about various provisions of the bill, and soon after the bills were passed in the Lok Sabha, every BJP handle started putting out such graphics.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya targeted the Congress’ opposition to the bills, shared its 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto, in which it had promised the same reforms to the APMC Act if it came to power. He also shared a speech by former prime minister Manmohan Singh and a video featuring Rahul Gandhi about amending the APMC Act in 2011. These were also shared by several BJP state units.

“We will tell the real truth that how this historic bill is second freedom for farmers. They have been liberated from mandis and middlemen. They can sell their produce to anyone at a higher rate. Political misinformation will be handled at booth level by farmers’ meets,” said Virendra Singh Mast, BJP MP from Ballia and national president of the Kisan Morcha.

Another BJP leader added: “There will be focused social media campaign where every MP has been told to share BJP fact-sheet from their handle.”


Also read: How Congress is justifying its stance against farm bills after backing reforms last year


Celebrities’ involvement

Kangana Ranaut took to Twitter Saturday morning to support the government’s legislation, criticise the opposition, share the BJP’s fact-sheets, and insist the Bills would be beneficial to farmers.

“People who used to clamour about the plight of farmers are the same who are today opposing bills that will empower farmers and make them self-reliant; they want to stop the government’s schemes for people’s welfare. Such sad people’s sadness will never end,” Ranaut’s handle stated, tagging PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Agriculture Minister N.S. Tomar.

Singer Daler Mehndi, meanwhile, put out a video tweet Saturday evening, identifying himself as a farmer and saying Modi has made worked to make them well-off, which is what has led to the opposition’s outcry.

A senior BJP leader told ThePrint: “We plan to include more influencers in the coming days to spread this message and dispel the misinformation campaign spearheaded by opposition parties.”

Khattar’s letter

In Haryana, where farmers have hit the streets and a BJP government is in power, CM Manohar Lal Khattar has written to PM Narendra Modi to start procurement of paddy for the public distribution system at minimum support prices a week early to counter “misinformation” about the MSP regime being scrapped. The procurement was supposed to begin on 1 October.

“We will start procuring paddy and millets from 25 September; 200 additional centres have been set up for paddy procurement, which take the total number of centres to 400, of which 120 are for Bajra. This will dispel misinformation that MSP will end and the mandi system will end. Once farmers start selling their produce, the entire misinformation campaign by the Congress will fall flat,” said Haryana BJP president O.P. Dhankar.


Also read: Farmers in Haryana begin protest against Centre’s farm bills


 

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