BJP’s decision to hold ‘Kisan Samvad’ in UP for three days gives away its nervousness over farmers’ agitation

In view of mounting pressure from the agitating farmers against the new farm laws, a nervous BJP has decided to hold ‘Kisan Samvad’ programme across Uttar Pradesh for three days. It will kick-off the event on December 25 – the birth anniversary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee – when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have a virtual dialogue with farmers.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Government wants it to be a big show. The entire party organization has been roped in, with BJP leaders and lawmakers jointly organising programmes at the block levels not only on December 25 but also on December 26 and 27.

“The party has also decided that on December 26 and 27, all public representatives including party officials at the state, district, mandal and sector level will be present at their booths and pay tribute to Atal ji while doing social service work. They will also read out the letter of Union Agriculture Minister highlighting the importance of the new farm legislation,” senior BJP leader Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.

The decision to extend the party campaign for two days shows the desperation within the BJP government and the party about the farmers’ agitation. The number of agitating farmers is swelling up at the UP-Delhi border. The Yogi Government had tried to stop the movement of the farmers towards the dharna sthal but has not been successful in stalling the same.

Contingents of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) are regularly marching towards the dharna point. In some cities the police even put senior opposition leaders under house arrest. SP national president Akhilesh Yadav and UP Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu were put under unofficial house arrest when they tried to lead a march in support of the farmers.

In this background, BJP’s decision to extend its ‘Kisan Samvad’ programme by two days assumes significance. The samvad will come a day after the Prime Minister distributes over Rs 18,000 crore to nine crore farmers under the Kisan Samman Nidhi. Of this, around one-third of the farmers are from Uttar Pradesh.

“The BJP will try to dispel the lies of the opposition parties,” BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh said. “Opposition parties are constantly spreading canard about new agricultural reform laws whereas the truth is that this legislation has opened new opportunities for them,” he said.

Senior Congress leader Amarnath Agarwal said if Opposition parties were spreading lies as alleged by the BJP, why is the number of agitating farmers increasing with every passing day. “Mark my words, this arrogant BJP government will come down to its knees because it cannot face the fury of annadattas,” he said.