The farmers’ protests in Delhi and Punjab are turning more political with every passing day. Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), by far the most important union spearheading the ongoing farmers’ agitation, is now clearly trying to depict itself as a duplicitous and hypocritical political front, and it’s no secret that it is pro-Congress.
Now the BKU-led farmers are pressurising the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) to end its alliance with BJP based on farm bills. In the 2019 Haryana Assembly Elections, BJP fell short of a majority by 6 seats and formed the government in alliance with the Dushyant Chautala-led JJP which has 10 seats in an assembly of 90.
Congress, led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, won 31 seats- 16 more than 2014 Assembly Elections. However, given the fact that 46 seats are needed for the government in the state, Hooda’s dream of bagging the CM chair could not be realized. But the party sees the farmers’ protests as a golden opportunity to destabilize the BJP-led government in the state, and thus, the BKU leaders could be seen holding placards criticising Dushyant Chautala for allying with BJP.
Dushyant Chautala, who is under pressure to break alliance with BJP over the farmer issue, had maintained silence for a few days. However, as the internal differences in the party grew over the farm bill, Chautala made a statement and said that he will quit the government if MSP is not ensured for farmers.
“Our party’s National President already made it clear that MSP must be ensured to farmers. The written proposals given by the Central government to the protesting farmers include a provision for MSPs. I will work to secure MSP for farmers as long as I am in power. I will resign from my post the day I am unable to fulfil the promise,” Chautala told ANI.
It is very much evident that the farmer’s protest is more about politics than policy because the organization has previously supported the liberalization of the agriculture sector. The only aim of BKU is to ensure that Congress comes to power in Haryana and remains in power in Punjab, and therefore, they are blaming the Modi government for everything instead of protesting against the state government policies.
As a matter of fact, the Kisan Manifesto of 2019 asked for abolishment of APMC and Essential Commodities Act. With the three farm laws now seeking to end the monopoly of APMC’s and arthiyas’, the same farmers of Punjab and Haryana, led by fronts like the BKU, are up in arms against reforms they previously demanded.
As for the BKU being a front of the Congress party, an analysis of their Twitter handle proves the same beyond any doubt. The old tweets of the Union, particularly in the run-up to the 2019 General Elections, show that the Bhartiya Kisan Union was rallying for the Congress party and putting out idiotic anti-BJP and anti-Modi tweets.
15 By Terming farmers as true nationalist, Dr Manmohan Singh has honored the farmers.
In an interview to @thetribunechd group, Dr Manmohan Singh has said that the farmers of the country are “true nationalists.” pic.twitter.com/PvmVMCFEyV
— Bhartiya Kisan Union (@BKU_KisanUnion) May 15, 2019
BKU supports Congress candidates in Punjab. Meeting was organized under leadership of S. Bhupinder Singh Mann Ex MP, National President of BKU, Chairman of All India Kisan Coordination Committee, S. Baldev S Mianpur President BKU Punjab at Batala in support of Sh. Sunil Jakhar ji pic.twitter.com/gna1FDovJF
— Bhartiya Kisan Union (@BKU_KisanUnion) May 11, 2019
The BKU, in one of its Twitter threads, went as far as saying, “Congress has eminent economists like Dr Singh who can bring the country back on economic track, especially the agriculture sector. This is why we have decided to support Congress in elections so that a strong Congress Government will pull agriculture from a deep crisis.”
#Modi Wave Over? Why Pollsters Are Scaling Down Predictions for BJP https://t.co/Pmvmd87tGh#Modi_on_wayout
— Bhartiya Kisan Union (@BKU_KisanUnion) April 16, 2019
Would @BJP4India tell me “Which Chowkidar was on duty when Rafale documents were stolen”?@RahulGandhi
@rssurjewala@vidyarthee @Jairam_Ramesh#ChowkidaarNahiJawabdarChahiye #ChowkidarChorHai #MainBhiChowkidar #RafaleDeal #Chowkidar #ChowkidarHiChorHai— Bhartiya Kisan Union (@BKU_KisanUnion) March 20, 2019
— Bhartiya Kisan Union (@BKU_KisanUnion) March 16, 2019
The only aim of the BKU-led ongoing farmers’ protest is to resurrect the moribund Congress party and maximize damage to the Modi government. It wants to destabilize the BJP-led government in Haryana and defame the Modi government.