It began with water

The CPI(M) is contesting in eight constituencies in the region. In the 2005 panchayat elections, the party notched victories in 16 of the 30 gram panchayats in the region. The CPI(M) won the Bikaner Lok Sabha seat in 1996 as well as Assembly elections twice from the Hanumangadh constituency.

Hetaram Beniwal, CPI(M) candidate from Shardul Sheher and a former MLA, was the leader of the Kisan Mazdoor Vyapari Sangharsh Samiti, which was formed to organise the agitation. According to Beniwal, “The areas in Ganganagar are supposed to get 58 per cent of the water from the Indira Gandhi Canal Project, but we were getting only 20 per cent as most of the water was being diverted to the second phase in Jaisalmer district. This is injustice.” It was only in 2007, he says, that the state government began releasing more water, keeping in mind the upcoming Assembly elections. “Till date there has been no compromise. The day the water supply is stopped again, we will begin fresh agitations,” says Beniwal.

The effects of the agitation are evident in Gadsana and Rawla villages in Sri Ganganagar, which was the epicentre of the farmers’ agitation, where the BJP and Congress candidates roam the streets in cars and rarely disembark from their vehicles. Dalaram Singh, a farmer who was part of the agitation, says, “They were not here when the agitation started or ended. The BJP never seemed interested in the issue. In fact, the MLA Ashok Nagpal did not visit Gadsana even once.”

Pavan Duggal, CPI(M) candidate from Anupgadh, which includes Gadsana and Rawla villages, is spoken of in reverent tones. He was once president of the local unit of the National Students Union of India (NSUI). “When the agitations began, I rushed to Jaipur to inform senior leaders of the problems here. But they turned me away, claiming they heard such complaints everyday. I then decided to quit the Congress and joined the CPI(M),” he says.

Reminiscing about the agitation, Surendra Singh, a farmer, says, “It started with a month-long dharna in front of the SDM’s office. Hundreds of affected farmers joined us everyday. When they did not agree to our demands we gheraoed the office, not letting officials in or out. After two days of the blockade, on October 26, the police arrived in massive numbers and began a violent lathicharge,” he says. The farmers hid in their houses and shops. “The police opened houses and shop shutters, entered and beat us up. The lathicharge left at least 200 injured”.

The next day, farmers from neighbouring Rawla village gathered in large numbers in support and marched to the local police station. Raju Rathod recalls, “We went to the Rawla police station to protest, but were instead fired upon. I was hit in my stomach, the bullet exited through my back. Four farmers were martyred in the incident.” At least 50 more were injured, he says. “After the Rawla firing, we began an agitation in Gadsana and set ablaze every single government building in sight, including the police outpost, SDM office, SDM’s house, panchayat office. We were fired upon again and another farmer was killed”.

Some of those who were killed were not even part of the agitation. Like Jetharam Nayak. “He worked in a shop. He was returning home on his cycle when the police suddenly opened fire. He died on the spot,” his wife Parmeshwari Devi remembers. Though the state government paid compensation, the family lost its means of livelihood until the older son was given a job as a janitor in the panchayat office. Bhangilal Vishnoi was killed after being run over by a police vehicle and Kula Singh from Punjab was killed when the police lathicharged him while he was alighting from a bus.

For farmers here, elections bring on a difficult choice. As one of them explains, “If we vote for the CPI(M), they will win, but will not be part of the state government and will not be able to guarantee us water. We are afraid of voting for the BJP and the Congress as they have done nothing for us in 10 years.”