The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will organise a mega brainstorming session in the Capital on October 12, to discuss the farmers' unrest in several states. The party aims at devising ways to woo the distressed section of the society, given the political compulsions of the 2019 general elections.
The country has been witnessing angry farmer protests in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh. Farmers from Tamil Nadu recently staged a "naked" protest in Delhi, carried skulls of those who committed suicide, and even threatened to eat faeces. The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh was pushed to the brink by angry farmers, some of whom died in police firing.
In Maharashtra as well, the situation for BJP deteriorated severely, with farmers inviting Raj Thackeray to listen to their demands. The loan waiver announced by the newly-elected Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh further fuelled the ire as peasants in other states also started demanding the same.
To cobble a response to the crisis, given that 2019 general elections are approaching, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh will be joined by agriculture ministers from the worst affected BJP-ruled states. Agriculture minister of Jammu and Kashmir, too, will be a part of the discussion.
Sources in the party said that since it was an "emergency meeting", agriculture ministers from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, and Rajasthan will be attending, while representatives from other states will be called for a more elaborate meeting on a later date.
The party will be represented by prominent economic ideologue, Swadeshi-proponent, and national General Secretary Muralidhar Rao, along with BJP Kisan Morcha Chief and MP from Bhadohi in UP, Birendra Singh 'Mast'.
Several Kisan Morcha representatives from across the country, too, have been invited. Certain MPs such as Om Prakash Yadav from Siwan and Savitri Thakur from Dhar are also expected to put forth their views at the meet.
Rubbishing allegations from the Opposition, Birendra Singh told DNA that the Congress was to blame for the farm distress in India and that it was the result of the party's anti-farmer policies, which had been in effect for decades.
"We are training 50,000 volunteers from the Kisan Morcha in the government's flagship policies meant to benefit farmers. They will go among farmers and disseminate the message and connect them to the party and the government directly," he said.
"We shall be working at the district and mandal levels, which are the grass-root levels of the country, so that farmers can avail themselves of the benefits that the government has pledged to being to them," Morcha Vice-President Shailendra Sengar said.
Meanwhile, the Opposition has sharpened its attack on the BJP regime over the issue. A few days ago, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi had chided the government while speaking in his Parliamentary constituency Amethi, asking the government to make way for the Congress, if it was not able to address unemployment and farmer-related issues.
What’s the need
The country has been witnessing angry farmer protests in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh.
The BJP govt in MP was pushed to the brink by angry farmers
