As elections inch closer in Uttar Pradesh, the farmers’ protest has also been gaining momentum, especially in the Western part of the State. A day after a Kisan Mahapanchayat called in Muzaffarnagar by Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary has said that it is high time farmers identified their issues and said the farming laws will be one of the biggest issues for the farmers in the upcoming 2022 UP Assembly elections.
In an exclusive interview with News18, Jayant Chaudhary has said that the government which was chosen to solve the issues of the farmers is fighting with the farmers instead.
Jayant also said that the farmers’ protest is going to be the axis point in the Western UP politics in the 2022 polls and will have a very big impact. “It is going to be a big issue definitely, agrarian stress has continued for the last few years. There has been no relief, no respite for the farmers. Compared to other States in North India, electricity is expensive in Uttar Pradesh, diesel is also at an all-time high. The costs at Mandis have also dropped significantly in the last few years. Apart from the sugarcane payment issue, all these issues have forced farmers to start thinking about their own representation,” he said.
“Farmers, on the other hand, are also very proud, they are very well organised, take a lot of pride in their own history, their political and social movement. That is why they feel very connected to what is going on outside the National Capital Region. There are issues that are relevant to the farmers and these issues are not resolved. The governments at the Centre and State have failed to recognise the issue for the last few years and it is going to be the biggest issue in the hearts and minds of the voters,” added Jayant.
Q. So what is the focus of RLD at the moment?
At the moment our issues are election management and election campaign, we want to take up these issues in the elections. Whatever farmers’ organisations are doing, we extend our full support to them but their strategy is decided by them.
Q. UP Minister Suresh Rana has claimed that the UP government will soon increase the price of sugarcane, how do you see that?
For the last four and a half years there has been no increase, even if they increase Rs 25 in five years then that is not sufficient. It doesn’t even cover the increase in diesel prices. Punjab has declared Rs 360, will UP declare Rs 450? They don’t even listen to their own institutions, when the sugar institute points out the cost increase, in the last four years they have not even covered that.
There is a law that payment will be made in 14 days. Let me raise this very important issue, I am going to raise a red flag, the voters need to be made aware that overnight the government might come up with a policy to change the law and say that 14 days are no longer required and now farmers will be paid in instalments. This is as per the NITI Aayog report and seconded by the Commission for Cost and Agriculture Prices, both of these institutions have said yes, and have forwarded it to the government. This is a major thing that they want to amend the act, right now the farmer organisation can at least approach the court and ask for the interest if payment is delayed beyond 14 days. This is an unprecedented blow to the sugarcane farmers. We are going to take up the issue in the coming elections as well.
Q. UP sugarcane minister Suresh Rana has also claimed the farmer protest is not an issue for farmers of West Uttar Pradesh. Your reaction?
The voters are smart, one has to be an andh bhakt if they can’t identify their issues. Lakhs of farmers have identified this issue and that is why lakhs of people turned up for the panchayat and many more are protesting for almost 10 months now. If this is not an issue then why did lakhs of people turn up? On one hand, they (BJP) say that Lokdal people are behind this protest but on the other hand, they claim that people from other States came for the mahapanchayat. I want to ask them Is RLD present in Punjab at the moment? These all are self-made claims by them (BJP) as they want to run away from reality. Not even once BJP people had gone to PM Modi and asked him to roll back the black laws. Instead, they are trying to teach farmers, they forget that they were chosen to resolve the issues of the farmers instead of fighting with the farmers.
Q. UP BJP President Swantara Dev Singh has raised a demand to raise Bharat Mata Ki Jai slogans along with slogans of Allah Hu Akbar and Har Har Mahadev?
On one hand, they call protesting people Andolan Jivi, Pakistani etc. but on the other hand, they are also telling people what to say and not. Why don’t they come and participate in the protest and tell farmers what to do and what not? They will speak against the farmers, defame it, lathicharge the farmers and then say why didn’t’ they say this or that.
Q. So has farmers’ protest turned political, as per claims of BJP MP Sanjeev Balyan?
Most of the movements are political as they have the capability to impact the government and bring a change. If this will not happen then the government will not rectify its shortcomings. I will say that this movement is political from day one, why can’t farmers participate in politics? Are farmers only voters? Why can’t they become a leader? Why shouldn’t farmers do politics on their issues? Should we do politics on some actor’s death only?
Q.Will RLD and Samajwadi Party announce a joint manifesto?
I will be coming to Lucknow to announce our manifesto, we are finalising the date. There won’t be a joint manifesto, we are doing an independent exercise and we are an independent political party. There may be a broad understanding when we form alliances on certain issues, but there is a larger canvas which we need to paint for ourselves. We will take up our issues and our own ideology. There are common views and shared visions when parties enter an alliance but at the end of the day, we are independent parties. Seat sharing is not yet decided, we will announce it at the right time
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