The BJP could be hurt by the ‘Made-in-Mandsaur’ farmer anger even in 2019

Farmers sell their produce in the main mandi in Mandsaur | Ruhi Tewari/ThePrint

The mood in Mandsaur, the hotbed of farmer agitation in MP, provides a peek into why the BJP has its task cut out for not just these polls but 2019 too. 

Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be on trial on multiple fronts, not only in these assembly polls but also in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Of these, farmers’ ire and agrarian distress could touch a raw nerve in the electorate — they were factors that dampened the BJP’s performance even in Modi’s home turf of Gujarat in the 2017 assembly elections. And the current mood in Mandsaur — the hotbed of farmer discontent in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh — provides the perfect peek into why the BJP has its task cut out on this front.

A cry for badlaav (change)

Bhanwar Singh, 75, of Bahi Parshwanath village, the focal point of the 2017 farmer agitation that took a violent turn, is using his early noon to sort his garlic produce with his wife. He has been a BJP voter in the past but says “abke baar badlaav chahiye (this time we need a change).”

“What has Shivraj Singh’s government done for farmers in the last 15 years?” he asks. “We haven’t benefitted from any scheme of theirs. We now get a very low price for our produce,” he says, adding that a quintal of garlic sells for Rs 3,000 when it should go for around Rs 10,000 a quintal.

Farmers in Bahi Parshwanath village, the focal point of the 2017 farmer agitation that took a violent turn | Ruhi Tewari/ThePrint

“The leadership may be okay but lower authorities siphon off everything. This time I want to give Congress a chance,” Bhanwar Singh says.

In June 2017, Mandsaur hit national headlines when a farmers’ protest — for higher crop prices and debt relief — turned violent as police opened fire, killing five farmers. The anger among the farming community does not seem to have abated since, with several blaming the BJP government for their plight and calling for change.

“Our situation is bad. We are struggling to even recover our costs,”  says Mahesh Patidar, who grows crops such as soyabean, wheat, onions and garlic. “The Bhavantar Yojana is a failure. Nothing has reached us. I don’t know what else is famously made in Mandsaur, but our anger definitely is.”

The Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana was launched with the promise to provide a cushion to farmers in case of crashing prices and had an underlying objective of cushioning the BJP from electoral reverses.

Farmers continue to be distressed

The sprawling mandi at the heart of Mandsaur town is bustling with activity; thousands of farmers from various villages are trying to offload their produce.

There are distressed farmers everywhere, complaining about inadequate prices and the inability to cope under the circumstances.

“Earlier I would easily get Rs 10,000 a quintal for my chana (gram), now I just get around Rs 3,800,” says Lakshmi Singh of Behpur village.  “The CM hasn’t helped us. In fact, the andolan that we carried out was peaceful but the police killed our own people. Voting for Congress makes sense since they are seeing our anger and if they come to power, they know they will have to do something for us.”

The anger of some, meanwhile, is directed as much at the central government as at Chouhan’s dispensation. “Modiji videsh ghoomte rehte hai aur hum kisaan yaha mar rahe hai. Ram mandir ki baat karte rehte hai humein bewakoof bana ne ko (Modi keeps visiting foreign countries while we are dying here. He talks of the Ram Mandir only to fool us),” says Mohan Lal of Gopalpura.

Some, however, even while wanting a change of regime, do praise some initiatives of the BJP government such as rural electrification, construction of housing and toilets and better roads, but say these are “general initiatives and not specific to farmers”.

Not all seems lost for BJP

All, however, does not seem to be lost for BJP with some continuing to prefer it over the Congress — who they say did nothing in the past when it ruled for long.

“BJP has been in the state only for 15 years and at the Centre for just five. What did the Congress do for decades before that?” asks Kishor Singh of Sitamau village. “I know we are getting low prices but there are other steps the government has taken to help us. People are saying palti hona chahiye (there should be a change) because they probably do not remember the Congress misrule.”

“The biggest boon for us has been regular electricity supply under the BJP rule. That is a huge advantage. In Digvijaya Singh’s time, we had so many power cuts and load shedding that we were disillusioned,” says Mahesh Patidar of Bahi Parshwanath.

The BJP, meanwhile, is banking on the hope that while there is farmer anger, it is geographically limited and there are enough farmers even in vulnerable regions who do not want to vote for Congress.

“The farmer anger is at its peak in Mandsaur given that was the centre of the movement, and that gives a lopsided picture. In other parts of the state, farmers are calmer,” said a BJP leader in the state who did not wish to be identified.  “Besides, many may be upset with us but don’t like the Congress either, especially given its past governments and the lack of a strong state or national leadership.”