With the peasants’ movement started just ahead the Lok Sabha elections, the political scenario in the state as well in the country has come to boil as the farmers from Punjab trying to enter Haryana in a bid to reach Sandhu Borders, are at loggerheads with the BJP-led Central and state government ahead of polls. Several incidents of chaos and heated spats were reported between the security forces and agitating farmers on Sambhu Border, Ambala and Jind districts on February 13 adding to the woes of the state government. At the same time, by announcing the award of Bharat Ratna to the late former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, who belonged to the Jat community, the BJP-led Central government is leaving no stone unturned to woo the farmers, farmers, Jats and Jatt Sikhs of Haryana, Punjab and Western Uttar Pradesh. At the same time, all the ruling parties along with the main opposition party Congress and AAP in Haryana say that before the Lok Sabha elections, the announcement of giving Bharat Ratna to Chaudhary Charan Singh has been made to gain political mileage. Since the farmers of Punjab have to pass through Haryana and the national capital Delhi is surrounded by Haryana in three directions, there has been a stir in the politics here too.
It is noteworthy that in a bid to get three contentious agricultural laws withdrawn in 2020, the agrarian community of many states had staged a protest for more than a year which led to increased problems on part the Central government. The gathering of farmers on the border of Haryana and UP adjacent to Delhi was on such a large scale that it became impossible for both the Haryana and Central Government to remove the farmers from the Sindhu and Tikri borders In such a situation, taking a lesson from the past incidents, the ruling faction in Haryana is taking additional steps as a precautionary measure and for this, the government has deployed additional police forces and CRPF in all the districts adjoining Punjab so that the farmers of Punjab do not enter Haryana under any circumstances and travel to Delhi. Seeing the gravity of the entire matter as a big political opportunity, the opposition parties in Haryana are leaving no stone unturned to gain mileage from it. With few months left in Lok Sabha elections, Congress is continuously mulling every possible strategy to return to power. The Congress, which has ruled the country for the longest time, has played the guarantee card game by declaring that if it comes to power, it will bring a law to give legal guarantee to the MSP. If the opposition parties including Congress are seeing an opportunity for political gain in the farmers’ movement, the Modi government is making every possible effort to persuade the farmers through talks and if things do not work out, to stop them from reaching Delhi.
Since the parliamentary polls draw near, the ruling BJP and opposition parties Congress and AAP are also well aware of the timing of the farmers’ movement and in such a situation, the ruling faction and the opposition are accusing each other of provoking and misguiding the farmers to gain political mileage. . Political experts believe that awarding ‘Bharat Ratna’ to Chaudhary Charan Singh, known as the messiah of farmers, and eminent agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan is an effort to pacify the farming community and the angry farmers, Jat and Sikh communities of Western UP, Haryana and Punjab. Due to the current situation, the ruling BJP of Haryana is facing big challenges as If the farmers reach Delhi or if strict action is taken against them, then the party’s Lok Sabha mission may face problems. In such a situation, Chief Minister Manohar Lal is keeping a close watch on the current eye on the present scenario.
In order to convince agitating farmers, three of the Union ministers including Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, Food Supplies Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai held a meeting with them in Chandigarh on February 12 which could not reach any conclusion. In the talks that lasted for 6 hours, agreement was reached on some demands including withdrawal of cases registered against farmers during the previous agitation. The demands of the agitating farmers includes giving legal guarantee to MSP, implementation of recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee, initiation of pension schemes for farmers and laborers on the lines of government employees and MLAs and MPs. It should also be ensured that India withdraws from the World Trade Organization and the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 is re-implemented. It is pertinent to mention that last time the movement was about withdrawal of three agricultural laws and despite being passed by the Parliament, the government had postponed the implementation of agricultural laws.