News Analysis India

Tag: Farms laws

  • BJP repealed farm law to mitigate perceived electoral loss in UP, Punjab: Analysts

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH: The BJP decided to repeal the farm laws to mitigate the perceived electoral loss in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand assembly elections in view of the formidable peasantry in north India, say political analysts.

    Political analyst Prof Ashutosh of Punjab University says, “The BJP leadership must have calculated that any delay in withdrawing the farm laws would lead to an electoral loss in the key state of Uttar Pradesh, especially the western part of the state and at the same time, the BJP can think of having some presence in Punjab in the polls. The decision would also make the farmers’ leaders kaput. In Punjab, the farmers’ movement will fizzle out now.”

    ALSO READ | PM Narendra Modi orders repeal of three farm laws ahead of Assembly polls in five states

    “There was a dire need to engage the peasantry while debating the agrarian crisis in the past. But now it seems the ruling party will step in for threadbare discussions with farmer’ organisations. The ruling party has taken this decision to mitigate the electoral loss in the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand. In Punjab, the party will try to take credit for this move but it will not translate into votes for them. The public will give credit to farmers rather than the political parties as they know which party did what,” says leading political observer Prof Kuldeep Singh.

    ALSO READ | ‘Modi government has to bring bill to repeal three agri laws’: Experts

    Another political expert pointed out that for more than 20-year-old the alliance between the BJP with SAD broke last year due to the farm laws. The Akalis broke the tie-up with the BJP making the saffron party a pariah in Punjab. The BJP has also been facing increasing hostility among the Jats of Haryana and Western UP, he opined.

    Also, a major turning point was the incident at Lakhimpur Kheri in which four farmers and others died when they were allegedly run over by a vehicle belonging to the son of Union Minister Ajay Misra Teni, he added.

  • Farmers set fire to copies of Centre’s farm laws in parts of Punjab, Haryana    

    By Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Farmers set fire to copies of the Centre’s three farm laws on Saturday near the residences and offices of BJP leaders in Punjab and Haryana as they observed ‘Sampoorna Kranti Diwas’ to mark the day of the promulgation of the farm ordinances last year.   At various places in both Punjab and Haryana, farmers carrying black flags raised slogans against the BJP-led NDA government for not scrapping these laws which, they said will destroy the farming community.

    At Phagwara in Punjab, farmers assembled near the GT Road and marched towards the residence of Union minister Som Parkash at Urban Estate and burnt copies of the farm laws. The Punjab Police barricaded the road leading to Prakash’s house to prevent protesters from reaching there. Parkash was not at home at the time of the protest. The farmers also held a protest near Prakash’s residence in Mohali.

    Members of various farmers organisations burn copies of the three farm laws outside the residence of Punjab BJP spokesman Bhupesh Aggarwal in Patiala | PTI

    In Hoshiarpur, farmers took out a protest march from local Gurdwara Singh Sabha to the local BJP office at Shastri market where they then burned copies of the legislation. Protests were also at Amritsar, Jalandhar, Mohali, Abohar, Barnala, Nawanshahr, and Patiala.

    In neighbouring Haryana, the police lathi-charged farmers in Panchkula as they blocked the Zirakpur-Kalka highway. They were earlier stopped by the police as they marched towards Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta’s residence. In Gurugram, the farmers blocked the main road in front of a BJP MLAs’ office. In Ambala, farmers held a demonstration near  the residence of Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij.

  • Farmers burn copies of farm laws near residences of BJP leaders in Punjab

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Farmers burnt copies of the Centre’s three farm laws near residences of BJP leaders and at other places in Punjab on Saturday as they observed ‘Sampoorna Kranti Diwas’ to mark the day when these legislations were promulgated as ordinances last year.

    Farmers carrying black flags raised slogans against the BJP-led central government for not scrapping the legislations which, they said, will “destroy” the farming community.

    Police personnel were deployed and barricades put up near the protest sites to maintain law and order.

    The call for observing ‘Sampoorna Kranti Diwas’ was given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of protesting farmer unions spearheading the agitation against the farm laws.

    In Phagwara, farmers burnt copies of the farm laws near the residence of Union minister Som Parkash at Urban Estate.

    The protesters assembled near the GT Road and marched towards his residence.

    Police put up barricades on the road leading to Prakash’s house to prevent protesters from reaching there, officials said.

    The Union minister was not at home at the time of the protest.

    The agitating farmers also held a protest near Prakash’s residence in Mohali district. Police were deployed and barricades erected outside the minister’s house to prevent any untoward incident.

    In Chandigarh, a protest was held against the Centre for not repealing the farm laws, the main demand of the agitating farmers.

    After being promulgated as ordinances on this day last year, the farm legislations were passed by Parliament in September.

    The president gave his assent to the bills later that month.

    Scores of farmers have been camping at Delhi’s borders since November last year demanding that the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

    However, the government has maintained the laws are pro-farmer.

    Several rounds of talks between the farmers and the government have failed to break the deadlock over these contentious laws. The government last held talks with farmer leaders on January 22.

    The talks between the two sides came to a halt after a January 26 tractor parade by farmers in Delhi turned violent.