New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) farmer wing Kisan Morcha will hold an extensive awareness campaign about the Narendra Modi government’s policies for farmers’ welfare policies as part of its ‘Gaon Parikrama Yatra’, its chief Rajkumar Chahar said Tuesday.
This comes as farmer’s unions are holding protests in the National Capital Region to demand a law guaranteeing Minimum Support Price — the minimum price that the Government of India sets for certain agricultural products.
Chahar, an MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur Sikri, told ThePrint that the organisation’s ‘Gaon Parikrama Yatra’, which kicked off Monday as part of the BJP’s election campaign, will focus on “dispelling the myth” that the government has not done enough to meet the farmers’ demand for better MSP.
Through the ‘Gaon Parikrama Yatra’ campaign, the party hopes to reach out to 2 lakh villages across the country.
Terming the current farm protests “political in nature”, Chahar that the Kisan Morcha will seek suggestions from the farmers on what they want the government to undertake in the future.
The Modi government has implemented a slew of measures for the farmers, including PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, and Namo Drone Didi, he claimed.
The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana is a government scheme to provide minimum income support to small and marginal farmers, while the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is a crop insurance scheme. Meanwhile, the NAMO Drone Didi initiative aims at uplifting rural women by providing drones to 15,000 women-led Self Help Groups (SHGs).
The work done by the Modi government for India’s farmers in India in the last 10 years is “historic”, Chahar said. “MSP is not an issue as our government has, over a period of time, increased it,” he said. “Why are the protests taking place now, just before the elections? Also, why do such protests emanate from Punjab only? The motive of these protests is definitely something else.”
He also accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, and the Left of having “infiltrated the protests”.
“Masquerading as farmers, many have become part of this crowd, which is creating anarchy. These people don’t have the interests of the farmers in mind but their own political motives. Our government has always worked for the farmers and even now will continue to do so,” he said.
The government is already in talks with the “genuine protesters” and all demands that are ‘justifiable’ will be met, he claimed. “Our government has always worked for the welfare of the farmers,” he added.
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Chaupals, feedback — what Kisan Morcha aims to do
Kisan Morcha’s ‘Gaon Parikrama Yatra’ comes just months before the general election. Modi’s BJP is angling for a third term, with the prime minister already announcing that his party would secure 370 of the country’s 543 parliamentary seats.
According to a senior Kisan Morcha leader, members of the Kisan Morcha will hold meetings in the villages as part of the yatra and seek “suggestions” from labourers and farmers. The inputs received from the month-long exercise will be forwarded to the BJP president J.P. Nadda and Modi in the form of a booklet, the leader said.
“Leaflets and pamphlets will be distributed to the villagers carrying information about the welfare schemes of the Modi government,” the leader told ThePrint.
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