Don't Be Fooled, BJP's Counter-Offensive Against Farmers Is Very Much Still on https://thewire.in/politics/dont-be-fooled-bjps-counter-offensive-against-farmers-is-very-much-still-on 05/JAN/2022
The forced surrender and public humiliation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the politico-economic battle over the farm laws engenders feelings of revenge against the farmers.
Punjab’s farmers’ organisations and their wider networks of support need to be particularly aware of the dangers presented by the BJP’s counter-offensive. From the perspective of defeating farmers’ resistance to agro-business capitalism aligned with Hindutva, winning the 2022 election in Punjab is even more important than in UP. If the BJP loses UP but wins Punjab, it will have two more years to regain the upper hand in UP in advance of the 2024 General Election. However, if it loses in Punjab – even if it wins in UP – its agenda to advance agro-business interests would be effectively defeated. If the BJP were to lose both in Punjab and in UP, that would be the biggest possible setback for the agro-business and Hindutva agenda.
Punjab’s farmers’ organisations need urgently to craft a well-thought-out election strategy that can defeat the BJP’s attempt to gain power in Punjab. The decision by 22 farmers’ organisation (out of the total 32 from Punjab involved in the current farmers’ movement) to contest the 2022 Punjab assembly elections under the banner of the Samyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM) will be keenly observed from the angle of sustaining the unity of farmers organisations and the potential to defeat the BJP’s counter-offensive.