Hyderabad:One of the first parties that were caught off-guard with the farmers' protest was the Shiromani Akali Dal. Captain Amarinder Singh, a veteran at surprise moves, forced SAD to not only disassociate with its ally, the BJP, but also to remain on the back foot as far as the farmers' agitation is concerned.
The local body polls in Punjab have now shown that the farmers' agitation has certainly paid its first political dividend for the Congress. The party swept through 7 of the 8 corporations and the only issue raked was the three farm laws. Nowhere was the victory sweeter than in Bathinda where the Congress returned to power in the corporation after 53 years.
The reverberations of this victory are surely going to resonate in the neighbouring state of Haryana where the BJP has kept Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in power with a post-election cobbled-up alliance.
That very alliance could face strains from the election victory of the Congress from across the border. Also, the current victory will also bolster the agitation at Delhi's border. Yogi Adityanath of Uttar Pradesh can rest content that though Rakesh Tikait's tears have united the Jat community in Western UP, it has not yet turned into a political force threatening the BJP, nor has the agitation has its backers for now in the state's hinterland.
The big question that emerges now is, whether the farmers' protest can be ignored for its political ramifications by the saffron party. The government has made it clear that it will not repeal the laws, but are willing to make amends to an extent. However, this hard-nosed bargain has only resulted in a stalemate. This stalemate might cost the BJP big politically.
Read:Farmers to hold 'rail roko' on Thursday : Rakesh Tikait
Though in Punjab the BJP has been a junior player, it can't ignore the fact that the poll plank for the local body elections was nothing, but farm laws. Polls are round the corner, yet not in the Hindi heartland. In Kerala and Tamilnadu the BJP is again a junior partner or a marginal player, but in West Bengal and Assam, it is now a major centender. It's a guessing game whether the protests around Delhi will have an impact on these states, but definitely it will be a talking point.
Captain Amarinder Singh of the Congress is a leader in his own right. Slogans raised by the victorious Congress in Punjab '2022 lai Captain' shows that he has been able to connect the party back with the grassroots. However, the big challenge for the grand old party will be to leverage the success it has seen in Punjab. The party has a tough turf in Gujarat where the local body polls will be held soon and even if the Congress does give a tough fight to the BJP there, the party could see a fighting chance.
The impact of the protest in Hindi heartland is yet to be gauged. More protests are lined up in the coming days and all have to do with the government's policy changes. Will the results from Punjab bolster the Congress? Will it at all make a difference in the electoral arithmetic of the poll-bound states? The answers could be only a couple of months away.
