The Punjab government’s crackdown on protesting farmers is an experiment to test public sentiment over strong measures by the Bhagwant Mann government and boost the sagging popularity of the chief minister, ruling AAP sources have suggested.
Police on Wednesday detained hundreds of farmers in the state, including union leaders, to prevent them from marching on to Chandigarh.
While the police have followed existing protocol to prevent large demonstrations in the city, Mann's sudden change of stance on the farmers, sources said, reflects a perception that the peasant movement is now seen as a public nuisance.
Farmers in Punjab — which has the highest government procurement of grain in the country — have been on the warpath since the introduction in late 2020 of three central farm laws that they feared would corporatise agriculture. These laws were rolled back after the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) blocked two highways leading to Delhi for a year.
However, the farmers' key demand for remunerative and legally guaranteed minimum support prices (MSPs) for a wide range of agricultural produce has not been met.
A splinter of the SKM, called SKM (Non-Political), has camped on two boundary crossings between Punjab and Haryana over the past year but has been stopped by the police from marching to Delhi over these demands.
The latest agitation in Punjab was sparked after Mann walked out of talks with the SKM on March 3 over its demand to be allowed to protest in Chandigarh.
An SKM statement said: "Although farmer leaders explained the importance of the protracted mass protest against the Union Government to achieve (their) genuine rights, the CM — without any reason — got provoked and just stopped the discussion and quit the meeting."
Mann told reporters on Tuesday: "I am the custodian of not just the farmers but the 3.5 crore population of Punjab, and farmers were causing inconvenience to traders, businessmen, students and employees…. Why waste my time on table talks when there is going to be no let-up in dharnas?”
An AAP source told The Telegraph that Mann was “testing the waters to see what people say”.
“There is a public perception that his government is failing. A similar perception of being a lame-duck government lost us Delhi. The farmers too have engaged in overkill and are demanding MSPs on every other produce. Bhagwant has taken a risk but he knows what he is doing,” the source said.
“An (Assembly) by-election is coming up (in Ludhiana West). If our candidate (Rajya Sabha member) Sanjeev Arora wins, his seat in the Rajya Sabha is likely to go to a senior leader from Delhi. The urban electorate, especially the trader community, has suffered losses because of blockades by farmers. Bhagwant is trying to assert himself with the drive against drugs, and has now taken this stand against the farm unions.”
In the drive against drugs this month, the Punjab government demolished properties of suspected drug dealers, taking the cue from BJP-ruled states that have witnessed the demolition of properties of accused without conviction or court sanction.
Mann’s crackdown against separatist Amritpal Singh’s followers has, however, backfired with Amritpal and another separatist getting elected to the Lok Sabha last year.
“It’s not just the farmers who have turned against the AAP. The perception among Dalits as well as urban voters is that the party has not delivered,” Chandigarh-based researcher Jatinder Singh told this newspaper.
“The business community and Hindus are also unhappy as they are unable to deal with the prolonged farmers’ agitation. Bhagwant Mann is in a fix and he thinks it's better for him to deny them entry into Chandigarh than negotiate.”
Singh added: “Farmers have been sitting at the borders (with Haryana) for so long now, yet no one bothers. The unions want to get relief (from this inertia), for which they need to direct their protest towards some government…. The CM is being aggressive because he knows that except the farm unions, no other group is much interested in the protests any more.”
