Today in Politics: With farmers set to march to Delhi, why it is a big test for both BJP govt and INDIA bloc

More than 200 farmer unions are expected to participate in the “Delhi Chalo” march on Tuesday. Led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, farmers primarily from Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh will march to Delhi amid tight security at the borders. Authorities have imposed Section 144 and internet shutdowns in some areas and blocked major roads using concrete blocks, iron nails, and barbed wire.

For the anti-BJP parties in the Opposition, which appear in a tight spot at the moment, these protests are an opportunity to corner the ruling party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has made farmers central to his election campaign. The PM late last year said farmers were among the four major “castes” — along with the poor, the youth, and women — whose uplift would spur development across India.

The Congress has already begun to criticise the government on its record on agriculture. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, posted on X, “Modi, who ‘cultivates lies’ day and night, has only cheated farmers in the last 10 years. Promising doubling of their income, Modi also made farmers struggle for MSP … Those who put nails in the path of farmers are not worthy of trust.”

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP government of following the “policy of deceit in the name of farmers”. He said, “On one hand, the government gave Bharat Ratna to the messiah of farmers Chaudhary Charan Singh ji and on the other hand, it is harassing the farmers by using force to stop them from reaching Delhi.” On Monday, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief and Charan Singh’s grandson Jayant Chaudhary left the INDIA bloc to join the NDA.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the Union government should accept the farmers’ “genuine demands” and criticised the security response. “There is as much barbed wire on the roads (at Punjab-Haryana borders) to go to Delhi as there is at the border with Pakistan,” he said.

As much as the protests are a test of the government and the BJP’s skills of negotiation and diplomacy to ensure they do not escalate, the “Delhi Chalo” march also presents the INDIA group of Opposition parties with a unique opportunity and challenge.

For the beleaguered alliance, which has been hit by the exits of the JD(U) and RLD in recent weeks, the key is going to be finding a way of making the farmers’ issues front and centre of its political messaging so that it can push the BJP on the back foot for a change. The alliance has not yet formulated a strategy for coordinating the ground activities of its constituents and the farmers’ protests provide a golden chance to do just that.

TMC delegation in Sandeshkhali

Amid unrest in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali, where the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has been caught up in a series of controversies – from the attack on Enforcement Directorate officials investigating its local leader to allegations of sexual violence and land-grabbing against its members – a delegation of the ruling party in the state will visit the area on Tuesday.

While the TMC is hoping to quell the anger – it suspended one of the accused last Saturday – the Opposition will look to use the situation to attack the government and question its handling of law and order, something it has repeatedly raised since the post-Assembly poll violence in 2021 and the panchayat election violence last year.

AAP meeting on LS candidates

Meanwhile, the AAP’s political affairs committee will meet in Delhi on Tuesday to discuss candidates for Delhi, Haryana, and Goa, and plan its election strategy, sources told The Indian Express. The party has already called off an alliance with the Congress in Punjab and announced it would contest all 13 seats in the state and the Chandigarh constituency on its own. It has also named several candidates unilaterally, including for three seats in Assam and one in Gujarat.

— With PTI inputs