Farmers Movement Archive

BJP to connect with farmers via outreach drive

Lucknow: With CM Yogi Adityanath announcing a hike in sugarcane State Advisory Price (SAP) for the forthcoming crushing season and withdrawing stubble burning cases lodged against farmers, BJP is setting in motion its massive organisational machinery to reach out to farmers, essentially in west UP, ahead of the state assembly polls. Sources said the party is planning to launch a farmer outreach programme at booth level in October when crushing and Rabi cultivation start. The party has asked functionaries of its farmer wing to start the spade work for the campaign to inform farmers about the benefits of farm laws, the increase in minimum support price (MSP) of various crops by the central and state governments, ensuring availability of fertilisers and electricity supply and social security schemes for them. “The party will inform farmers and the public about the measures taken by BJP in their favour. Our party works all through five years, unlike the opposition which is active only on social media,” said UP BJP Kisan Morcha president Kameshwar Singh, while speaking to TOI. “We will reach out to farmers through our booth-level committees. There are 1.83 lakh booths and we have constituted nearly 1.5 lakh booth committees,” Singh added. More committees will come up in the next couple of months, said sources. BJP plans to neutralize the misinformation spread by the Opposition which is aiming to put the ruling party on the mat on farm protests. Analysts, however, are viewing BJP’s initiative as an attempt to negate any impact of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), which is targeting BJP and is calling it anti-farmer. BKU is largely active in the politically volatile west UP region, comprising nearly 125 assembly seats. BJP Kisan Morcha leadership contradicts reports of BKU having any impact on farmers. “I myself camped in West UP 10 days ago and found that farmers are happy with the Yogi Adityanath government and are satisfied with the measures taken by it,” Singh added. Earlier, BJP had organized mega ‘Kisan Panchayats’ to mobilize farmers, especially in west UP where protest against farm laws is on for over eight months. BJP also held ‘Kisan Samvad’ from August 16 to 23 in the state to improve its prospects in the assembly polls.

The Times of India

2021-08-27

Lucknow