Possibility of electoral impact in UP forced repeal of farm laws

Possibility of electoral reverses in the 'Jat' dominated western Uttar Pradesh region in the forthcoming assembly polls in the state, which is barely four months away, may have forced the centre to repeal the three contentious farm laws on Friday.

While the BJP leaders here, including UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, welcomed the decision and termed it 'historic', the opposition parties said that prime minister Narendra Modi was 'forced' to repeal the farm laws fearing 'defeat' in the UP polls.

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The farmers' organisations also welcomed the decision but a section of them are apprehensive that the BJP could again bring them back if it emerged victorious in the polls.

Some state BJP leaders here also said that the farm laws should have been repealed after the Lakhimpur Kheri violence last month in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed while protesting against union minister AjayMishra's alleged threat to them for agitating against the farm laws.

The saffron party leaders remained uncertain of the electoral impact of the scrapping of the farm laws. ''Election campaign is already on...it is yet to be seen if the anger among the farmers, a majority of whom are Jats, will be doused by this decision,'' remarked a senior BJP leader here preferring anonymity.

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Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the BJP government had repealed the farm laws apprehending electoral setbacks in the UP polls.

She said that the farmers knew the truth and that the BJP could not be 'trusted'. "Ajay Mishra continues to be in the ministry even after the Lakhimpur Kheri incident," she added.

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav also echoed similar sentiments. "The government got scared after seeing support to us during our campaign and repealed the farm laws," he said.

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Akhilesh, whose party has tied up with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which enjoys considerable influence among the 'Jat' community, hopes to cash in on the anger in the community and reap rich electoral dividends in the forthcoming polls.

Gurubachan Singh, a local scribe from Baghpat in UP, who hailed from 'Jat' community, said that it would be 'wrong' to believe that the community would 'forgive' the BJP for the 'atrocities' on the farmers.

Another political analyst here said that there was a perception that the BJP might not repeat its 2017 performance in the eastern UP region where it had won 115 of the 156 seats last time and was therefore forced to go for damage control in the western region.

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