R Krishna Das
The announcement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw the three controversial agriculture laws has been meticulously timed, both strategically and electorally.
The statement, in a televised address to the nation Friday morning, came before he departed on a visit to Uttar Pradesh that votes in February-March 2022. The day also coincides Guru Nanak Jayanti, also known as Gurpurab, celebrated across the country to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism.
It is one of the biggest festivals in Punjab, which has been the epicentre of farmers’ agitation along with Uttar Pradesh. It will also go to the polls along with Uttar Pradesh.
The decision has dumbstruck the opposition and the farmers union spearheading the movement. The opponents are turning the pages to find phrases for responding to the development. Initially, they termed it as farmers’ victory and opposition’s pressure.
But the Prime Minister has reportedly taken the decision after several rounds of deliberations on the feedback gathered from in-house, the BJP, its frontal organisations and independent forums.
It is reported that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) workers travelled to the villages and interacted with the farmers on the agrarian issues. The small and marginal farmers had raised concern over the legislative surety for minimum support price (MSP) and curtailing the role of open markets. and a fertiliser crunch. It was an important input as the small and marginal farmers formed the backbone of the BJP.
The development in the rural Uttar Pradesh seemed to have dictated the decision where the BJP is in power and holds the key for the third-term to the party in 2024 general elections. It has 80 Lok Sabha seats and 403 assembly seats. The focus is however on Western Uttar Pradesh that has 70 seats. The BJP has always been strong in this belt on the strength of the Jat votes but lately, the community has vocally expressed its resentment with the party and looked like gravitating towards the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) founded by the late Ajit Singh.
The farmers in the poll-bound states, regardless of their caste, began questioning the farm laws.
The decision has stunned the nation and the Twitterati is flooded with memes of #Masterstoke. While some are hailing the announcement, others are wondering how they will defend the farm laws that they once supported.
The comments and the reaction do not find the gravity that will yield any political dividend to the opposition out of decision.
