Indian farmers step up rallies ahead of local polls

NEW DELHI: Thousands of Indian farmers marked the 100th day of protests against controversial agricultural laws on Saturday by blocking a major expressway on the outskirts of New Delhi and expanding their campaign in five states facing local elections.  
Tens of thousands of farmers from the largely rural states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have been camped on the outskirts of the capital for three months to protest against three laws passed in September.
Farmers say the laws will leave them poorer and at the mercy of corporations by allowing the unregulated entry of private companies in the farming sector, which employs over 50 percent of India’s population.
Hundreds of cars and tractors blocked the eastern peripheral expressway of New Delhi for several hours as farmers vowed to continue their protest against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“We will continue the protests till the government withdraws the anti-farmer laws,” Sunil Pradhan, of the Indian Farmers Union, told Arab News.
“The government does not realize how angry people are with the arrogance of the BJP regime, which ignores the discontent of the people,” he said.
Farmers fear the new laws will usher in the privatization of traditional agriculture markets and lead to market-driven pricing of produce, wiping out the minimum support price (MSP) that the government fixes every year for some products.
The government held 10 rounds of talks with farmers to resolve the issue and offered to postpone the implementation of the new laws for 15 months in order to reach an agreement.
However, the protesters have rejected the offer, demanding that the laws be revoked altogether.
“Asking the government to withdraw the law is not right,” BJP spokesperson Sudesh Verma told Arab News. “The government has shown a willingness to accommodate, but vested interests are not allowing negotiation.”
He added: “If the old system is better, it will stay. Innocent farmers are being lured into opposing the laws through the creation of false fears. MSP is not at stake in these three legislations,” he said.
Verma said that the anti-BJP mobilization in five states holding regional elections this and next month is proof that the farmers have political goals.
“This shows that the real agenda is politics. They should know that the people won’t appreciate it,” he said.
On Friday, Samyukta Kisan Morcha, or the Joint Farmers Group, a conglomerate of farming organizations at the forefront of the protest, announced an anti-BJP campaign in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry — all of which go to the polls in coming weeks.
“On Friday, we held the first rally of farmers in Kolkata,” Ashutosh Mishra, of the All India Farmers’ Struggle Coordination Committee, told Arab News.
“Our stand is clear: We don’t want to support any political party, but we are telling voters not to vote for the BJP which has turned against its own people,” he said.
The farmers’ campaign is expected to pose a challenge to the political dominance of the BJP.
“The movement will have a deep-rooted impact,” Urmilesh Urmil, a New Delhi-based political analyst, told Arab News. “This movement has raised political consciousness among farmers and this will pose a problem for the ruling party.”
He added: “From the beginning, the government was not keen to engage farmers and wanted to let the movement die its own death. But I think the government is making a mistake.
“At a time when mainstream political parties lack the strength to challenge the BJP behemoth, the farmers’ movement can create a new consciousness among people at large.”