By Anirudh Singla
The All India Kisan Sabha, CPI(M)s farmer body, led a farmer agitation in North Rajasthan for 13 days starting on September 1. With very little media attention and no formal presence in the region, the party was able to get the government to surrender to the demands of the farmers.
Mobilising the farmers
Statistically unconventional but strategically possible, the party laid grains deep in the ground as this scale of a stir was never seen before. Across Rajasthans Shekhawati region, farmers were protesting for better prices, loan waivers and leniency in the rules imposition for the trade of farm animals. Roads were blocked as farmers surrounded government offices in huge numbers and protested in the main markets of major Rajasthan districts of Jhunjunu, Sikar and Churu. On September 14, the Rajasthan government acceded to the demands laid forward by the protestors.
What comes as an observable question is how CPI(M) pulled off such a massive mobilisation in Sikar, given its minority status in Rajasthan. There is a history of farmer mobilisation that bodes affluence to movements led by Jats under the British Raj to the protests led by CPI(M). It started from the motion for the land irrigated by the Indira Gandhi Canal to be redistributed amongst the landless and the poor rather than the homeless. Amra Ram of the CPI(M) was quoted saying that, We have always been mobilizing large numbers of people in this region. The media does not report it since we focus on farmers.
Tracing the victories
Further going down the history lanes, one can trace out the Kisan Sabhas repeated attempts at fighting for the farmers and making their presence felt. Back in 2000, it had laid siege to the Rajasthan State Assembly based on the issue of the minimized number of hours they were supplied with power each day. 2004 saw a farmer agitation led by the CPI(M) in the Shri Ganganagar region wherein protests against the reduction of water allowance from the Indira Gandhi Canal.
What is surprising to note is that CPI(M) had also conducted a sit-in in Jaipur in response to hiked electricity tariffs and the government had no other option but to relent. All these efforts brought CPI(M) its saving grace in the 2008 Rajasthan State Assembly Elections in the form of three legislative seats. Before the farmers agitation this September, CPI(M) had also organized large protests in Sikar to protest against hiked electricity tariffs and the government had no other option but to relent back.
Thus, history in all its prudence points out how mass agitation is something the CPI(M) has always maintained as its trump card since early times. Also, one can attribute this successful mass mobilization to the fact that the Shekhawati region and the CPI(M) are predominantly led by the Jats. The Congress and the BJP have by far failed to woo the Jats. The local citizens say that they have been neglected” by them. Thus, it was natural for CPI(M) to hold an upper advantage.
Tossing the balance in their favour
Having appealed to a larger societal base, CPI(M) had managed to bypass religion and caste in politics to a certain extent. It has picked up problems that affect the larger community of farmers at hand. This way, they have been able to gain the trust of people in the region and have avoided political stints of caste and religion.
President of the Sikar district agricultural inputs traders association, Manoj Bajaj was quoted saying, Look if the farmer is crushed, we will also be crushed, and not only us, everyone in Sikar depends on the farmer for the livelihood. Already, we had been hit hard by demonetization and GST. So, we had to stand with the farmers in his time of need.
After all the above scrutiny, one can clearly say that the Left party is a force to reckon with and is all set to give the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress a tough fight in the Shekhawati Region. CPI(M)s ascendance since the 2004-2005 period to its incumbent tactics clearly shows its renewed interests in the Northern Hindi-speaking belt. The support and confidence of the people gained by the party go on to reflect at different levels: how things are changing and will continue to do so.
Featured Image Source: Kazarelth via Visual Hunt / CC BY