New Delhi: The mandate for five state assembly elections has been disappointing for the opposition parties except for AAP which achieved a landslide victory in Punjab. The rest four states showed absolute faith in the BJP and brand Modi. Apart from the opposition, one most disappointed front is the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of more than 100 farmer unions that led a year-long protest against the three farm laws.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha had not only appealed to people to punish BJP in these assembly polls but also launched a full-fledged campaign to defeat and teach a lesson to the ruling BJP and Prime Minister Modi. But all went in vain, their 'Mission UP' failed to yield results as they could not manage to make a dent in BJP's prospects even in the Western Uttar Pradesh, where even political pundits had predicted that the 'Kisan Andolan factor' will be crucial and BJP will lose some ground.
Now, the question arises whether the farmers' front will get the same kind of support from the general public for their cause. ETV Bharat talked to farmer leader Yogendra Yadav who acknowledged the fact that their appeal to punish the BJP in these elections has not been successful but it doesn't mean that the farmers' movement has failed. "We were not the main players but only the groundsmen in these elections. We prepared the pitch and playing was not our job," he said.
Even the Lakhimpur Kheri incident was projected as the biggest factor which could harm BJP the most but to much surprise, the BJP did a clean sweep in Lakhimpur winning all eight seats of the parliamentary constituency. The results clearly show that the voters did not keep these issues in mind while pressing the button at voting centers.
However, the SKM leader begs to differ. "If you see the previous performance of the opposition and their position before the farmers' movement reached its peak, you will understand that the opposition managed to fight only after the farmers' movement made an impact. The results would have been more disappointing if the Kisan Morcha was not there. So there was the impact of the movement but we couldn't succeed in our goal," said Yogendra Yadav.
Farmer Unions from Punjab played a crucial role in making the movement against the three farm laws successful. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha enjoyed substantial support from the non-farming community as well. But when the year-long protest at Delhi borders concluded in December, 22 farmer unions from Punjab decided to contest the assembly elections. The farmer unions led by leader Balbir Singh Rajewal launched their political outfit Sanyukt Samaj Morcha and contested on all 117 seats only to draw a blank after the results. The Chief Ministerial face of the farmers' front, Rajewal could only secure close to 4 percent vote in the constituency he contested.
From the results of the Punjab assembly elections, people are drawing conclusions that even the farmers' community did not like the idea of farmer leaders jumping into politics and decided not to vote for them. Confirming the same, Yogendra Yadav says he had already requested the farmer leaders not enter into the electoral fray. "When the 22 farmer unions expressed their wish to contest Punjab elections, I asked them not to do so. The SKM had also released a statement that they have no relations with the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha and the farmer leaders contesting elections are no more part of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha. Entering electoral politics without any preparation was not a wise decision and the voters did not accept that. But this doesn't mean that farmers don't like farmer leaders," said the farmer leader.
Now, Samyukt Kisan Morcha will be holding a national convention in New Delhi on 14th March to discuss their future strategy and chalk out the plan to move ahead with the demand of an MSP guarantee. "Farmers' movement remains unaffected by the election results. The movement will continue till the government fulfills farmers' demands," concludes Yadav.
