As farmers' protest rages on, PM Modi asks BJP to counter rumours

On a day the farmer protests broke out in a number of states and the Bihar Assembly election dates were announced, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reminded BJP workers of their “responsibility to protect farmers from rumours” and the party has planned a fortnight awareness campaign on three Farm Bills, which the Opposition has described as ‘death warrant” for the farming community.

“Those always speaking lies to farmers are again trying to mislead them to suit their political interests. It is the responsibility of BJP workers to protect the farmers from such rumours and explain to them the importance of the farm sector reforms in easily comprehensible language,” Modi said, exhorting the BJP workers to puncture the propaganda of the Opposition.

Addressing the BJP leaders and workers on the birth anniversary of party's ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay, Modi asked the party workers to expose those who always "lied" to farmers are now "shooting from their shoulders" and “misleading” them for their own political benefit.

Having burnt its fingers twice over farmer issues in the past, once in 2015 after the protest against Land Bill and then the loss of Madhya Pradesh in 2018 after the killing of six farmers in police firing, BJP has gone in aggressive campaign mode to counter the Opposition charges—from door to door and village level meetings.

Follow all the live updates of farmers protests here

While the BJP MPs and leaders in seven states including farm-agitation hit Punjab and Haryana as well as Rajasthan, Delhi has already been directed to start the public awareness campaign on the Bills from September 25, such an exercise will also be carried out in other states including Bihar, which goes to polls this year, West Bengal, where elections will be held in 2021 and Uttar Pradesh, where elections will be held in 2022. The central leadership in its missive has asked the state units to counter the Opposition ‘campaign of falsehood’ on this issue during the 15-day Jan Jagaran Abhiyan.

The tone and the tenor at the birth anniversary of Upadhyay also gave a clear inkling that the BJP, which had to do a somersault on the Land Bill issue in 2015, is in no mood to blink this time and would rather go for a long haul and try to convince the farmers how the newly-passed farm legislations are not anti-farmer and will launch campaigns and meetings to call out the Opposition on this issue even as the latter feels that it has got an issue to put the ruling party on the mat.

Immediately after the Bills were passed on Sunday, BJP fielded its farmer face in Northern India Rajnath Singh, who repeatedly said “I am also a farmer” as he tried to clear the misgivings of farmers on the Bills. In the very next cabinet meeting, the government announced a rise in the MSP, giving a message that it is committed to protecting it.

The understanding in the BJP is that they have four years to govern and the benefits of the legislation will start occurring to the farmers not before long, which will take away the steam out of the Opposition campaign eventually.

Asserting that for the first time in decades the government has framed laws that benefit farmers, Modi said that the farmers were kept in a trap of laws due to which they could not sell their produce according to their choice.

“This led to a situation in which despite the increase in their produce, their income did not rise and loans kept piling upon them, a situation which the NDA government repeatedly tried to change.”