Farmers are very angry with Modi government: Jayant Chaudhary

The harsh reality is that for citizens of Uttar Pradesh law and order has not improved, he also said

Jayant Chaudhary of the Rashtriya Lok Dal says that the Kairana model, which led to an RLD win in the 2018 byelection, will be up for the show in the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh as the RLD joins hands with the Samajwadi Party. Edited excerpts:

Your party’s win in Kairana in 2018 made waves because it brought together the Opposition, but a year later BJP clinched the seat. How does it look like this year?

Our election pitch in that election was, “ganna jitega ya Jinnah jitega” (either sugarcane or Jinnah will win). The BJP is now talking about Jinnah, so that will help us pick up real world issues. That’s our basic campaign pitch. For instance, sugarcane farmers have not been paid their dues in two years. The government is very miserly in increasing the sugarcane SAP rate -- only Rs 35 in five years. The costs have soared. I’m confident about the Kairana model, a grassroots-oriented campaign. I did over 200 poll meetings. That’s the strategy for this time.

How do you think the year-long farmers’ unrest will play out electorally for the SP-RLD alliance and the BJP?

Farmer’s movement sustained for 13 months, it was unprecedented. There is deep-rooted anger and resentment in the farming class and communities against the government. There are asking the hard question that why was this reform needed. The government should have handled this in a sensitive; instead there were stubborn and arrogant. In this time 700 of our brothers and sisters died. And Lakhimpur Kheri was not a tragedy; it was actually a crime of the severest form. That angst is deep-rooted, and the movement has catalysed a larger form of social awareness, even urban middle class has solidarity with the farming community. They have realised that they are nor pro farmer or pro-citizen. Within farmers, the division on caste, religion and class, is closing. Emotions are very strong now, and SP and the RLD alliance will be able to work our traditional vote banks, and bring on other elements.

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The other day, UP CM Yogi Adityanath coined a new term -- tamancha-ism. How will RLD work around the Samajwadi Party’s tag of hooliganism?

This is just part of propaganda; the harsh reality is that for citizens of Uttar Pradesh law and order has not improved. You may categorise kidnaping and looting as petty crimes, but it is not petty for those who face it. The Central government has acknowledged it, too. They have said that cases have gone up. For instance, crimes against women have increased and dowry deaths are ten times the national average. You had the horror of Unnao where Yogiji and his government were shielding a rape-accused because he was a sitting MLA aligned with BJP. Was he not a goonda? Is Ajay Teni not a goonda for Yogiji? These questions will also be asked by the people. There is no roadmap, no vision, no policy that the BJP has shown, and no commitment to change the situation.

Speaking of representation, Mayawati has given tickets to several Muslim candidates in Western UP, an area where the RLD has a strong Jat support. How will you counter that?

Traditionally, she has been giving tickets in the same pattern in these regions. But she has not been active, and she has been largely missing from this current election. Therefore, people who are aligned to her, who want to defeat BJP, are going to very consciously think about their vote.

You met Priyanka Gandhi in November leading to a lot of speculation. Are we looking at a post-poll alliance with the Congress if the need arises?

Post-poll we will have to look at what the numbers are. I’m confident that we will be able to muster the numbers that are required. Of course, if there is any like-minded party, opposed to the BJP, and if we have to form the government, then those decisions will be taken at that point.

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You have spoken on how the BJP has sought to divide the farmers into Muslim and Jat farmers. How will the RLD-SP alliance counter that?

They divide in many ways -- Jat and non-Jat, Hindu and Muslim, poor and rich farmer, etc. They have tried to create the impression that the new bills would have favoured the small farmer and hurt the landowning class, which is not the case. I feel we have done enough to combat these charges, there are programmes like Bhai-chara Zindabad, there’s the Bahujan Uday Abhiyan, we have reached out to the most backward and giving them roles and tickets.

The Jat vote bank in the region, which has traditionally voted for your family, has lately inched closer to the BJP. Which way do you see them swaying this time?

Jats have an affinity for RLD, but our party is not just a Jat-oriented party. The farmer identity is our main pitch and thrust. I feel Jats, like other farmers, are angry with BJP and they are with us. They have a sense that, after Chaudhary Ajit Singh ji’s passing, they want to revive this party.

Two men were running the show in 2017 when Akhilesh Yadav allied with Rahul Gandhi. This year, too, two men are the face of the SP-RLD alliance. Will you be proven lucky?

There’s more than the two of us in the alliance. There’s Om Prakash Rajbhar and smaller outfits. It is a rainbow coalition. For the last five years, RLD workers have shown exemplary courage and faith, and stuck by us. We were the first to land in Lakhimpur, or stand with the Hathras rape victim’s family, or stand in solidarity with the farmers. We organised more than 50 kisan panchayats when we realised that farmer leader organisations do not want politicians to share stage with them. We decided it is our duty to support this social movement. I’m sure they will vote for change.

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