Ramanagara (Karnataka): Everything is not as smooth as silk in the country's largest cocoon market.

The upcoming Assembly elections next month and the lingering effect of demonetisation have left farmers grappling with falling silk prices.

But what has the elections got to do with silk prices?

Farmer Naveen Kumar, who has been selling cocoons in the Government Cocoon Market in Ramanagara for about two decades now, explained.

Demand, he said, has fallen because of currency shortage.

"I sold cocoons for Rs 680 a kilo in January. But now I am struggling to get even Rs 500," he told The Telegraph.

The elections, he believes, have sucked out cash from banks and even ATMs. "We don't know why this is happening. The latest cash shortage came just when we were breathing easy after that nightmare called demonetisation."

In this Vokkaliga belt - where the battle is essentially between the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), with the BJP out of the equation - the farmers grow cocoon and "reelers" buy them to spin raw yarn.

The government market caters to over a thousand silk farmers and 700 reelers. As silk has no minimum support price, unlike most agricultural produce, the farmers are entirely dependent on demand and supply. So most of them want a pro-farmer government. That, in terms of political support, means the JDS.

With the May 12 elections just a fortnight away, these farmers have pitched in to help former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy retain Ramanagara and win from neighbouring Channapatna too.

Kumaraswamy, son of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, faces a challenge from Congress nominee Iqbal Hussain and the BJP's H. Leelavathy in Ramanagara. But the silk farmers are confident that Kumaraswamy, a Vokkaliga, would win.

They are not even worried about the possibility of the Congress nominee splitting the minority votes. "We are sure Kumaraswamy will win easily. But he may not be able to do much for us unless the JDS forms the next government," silk farmer Kumar said.

Most farmers here are angry with Congress chief minister P.C. Siddaramaiah for "belittling" Deve Gowda.

"Who made Siddaramaiah a leader? Who mentored him? It was Deve Gowda. But after moving to the Congress he forgot him (Deve Gowda) and has begun insulting him," said Ramesh, a die-hard supporter of the former Prime Minister who still commands respect in the area.

Siddaramaiah was an integral part of the JDS till he was expelled over differences with Deve Gowda in 2005 and joined the Congress the following year. While he took care to keep Deve Gowda happy with occasional visits to meet the patriarch, Siddaramaiah has been criticising him and the JDS of late.

Mohammed Agha Pasha, president of the local reelers' association, tried to strike a balance. "The situation as of now is that the Congress and the JDS are on an even keel. It is difficult to read any swing towards either," he said.

Shahidullah Khan, an engineering graduate who has since been coaxed by his father into joining the silk business, insisted that farmers deserved better governance.

"(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi can keep talking about Digital India, but farmers need cash," said the young man who too wants a "pro-farmer government" to run the state.

So that business could once again go back to being as smooth as silk.