Farmers Movement Archive

Voters reposed faith in farm laws: Union mins

Jaipur: The victory in gram panchayat polls has come to the rescue of Union government which is facing protest by farmers over agriculture laws. The central BJP leaders and union ministers have claimed that the victory in 1,989 gram panchayats out of 4,371 is the evidence that rural voters have reposed faith in farm laws.Union minister of environment Prakash Javadekar held press conference in New Delhi and used the party’s victory to counter the farmers’ protest.BJP president J P Nadda also used the opportunity and tweeted to dispel the fear of farmers.The victory becomes significant in a sense that for the first time in the recent years that the ruling party has lost rural election. The victory has given a shot in the arm of the BJP state president Satish Poonia who chose to follow a distinct campaign strategy by reaching out to the beneficiaries of the Central government schemes to create a buzz in the poll-bound segment. Being in the opposition, it was the best bet for the saffron party to bring PM Modi element to the fore in rural polls.“The ongoing schemes like Ujjwala, PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission etc have a large number of takers in the rural areas. Every poll segment had the beneficiaries who were reached out and they were more than happy to share how their lives have changed by these schemes has countered the ruling state government influence,” said Poonia.The polls took place in the midst of the farmers’ protest seems to make not much impact for the BJP. The party is thanking its booth level reach out programs to highlight the benefits of the farm laws held September-October-November to minimise the damage of farmers’ protest.Along, the party didn’t hesitate in repeated the farmers’ loan waiver promise made by the Congress government like one of the main common poll strategies. The victory has also given him an upper edge over other senior BJP leaders in the state. His style of working has developed a rift with the senior leaders during the municipal polls last month.It didn’t prevent him to keep his say in the ticket distribution, while the Congress had given the free hand to the MLAs. The state party leaders have briefed the central leaders about the importance of the polls which was held in rural areas and concerning farmers. The Centre was quick to take the line and started using it as a countermeasure. Meanwhile, the BJP has started rushing its elected gram panchayat and counsellors ahead of the election for pradhan and zila pramukh to the hotels and safe places.

The Times of India

2020-12-10

Jaipur