Assembly Elections 2023: In the Karnataka Assembly elections, the Congress has strongly raised farmers’ issues and made many promises for farmers in its manifesto. After achieving electoral success in the Karnataka Assembly, the Congress is mainly focusing on solving the farmers’ problems and their demands in their election manifesto. The Congress government implemented many schemes related to the farmers of Chhattisgarh and highlighted these schemes in the assembly elections of Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The Congress is playing a front foot against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the issue of farmers not getting fair price for their produce and not allowing losses in dairy farming. This is because these issues involve every farmer’s family.
Farmers’ produce prices and dung politics
In the Karnataka assembly elections, the Congress had promised in its manifesto that it would announce minimum support price (MSP) for crops based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Prices. Also, instead of financial assistance of Rs.05, milk producing farmers were promised Rs.07. These two factors played an important role in the success of the Congress in the Karnataka assembly elections. This has boosted the Congress and it is strongly raising issues related to farmers in assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana.
On November 19, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the withdrawal of three agriculture laws. After that, the farmer organizations raised two main demands. The first demand is that all crops should be given MSP based on the C2 + 50 percent profit formula. And the second demand is to ensure MSP. However, the BJP government at the center is cautious about this. On the other hand, farmers are giving up their milk as the profit in rearing dairy animals is low. To win the support of farmers on both these issues, the Congress is including in its manifesto a plan to buy better prices for their produce and cow dung.
Why is Congress revising its plan?
The Chhattisgarh government had started buying paddy from farmers at Rs 2500 per quintal from 2020, which was higher than the MSP. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had promised farmers in the last election that they would buy paddy at Rs 2500 per quintal. As per the rates set by the Central Government, the minimum support price for rice to farmers at that time was Rs 1815 per quintal for normal grade paddy and Rs 1835 per quintal for grade A paddy.
Also Read: MP polls: Congress playing caste census, BJP warns farmers
The Chhattisgarh government had started buying paddy at the rate of Rs 2500 per quintal, but the central government objected and said it could not buy paddy from the state government. To solve this problem Chhattisgarh government has started ‘Rajiv Gandhi Krishak Nyaya Yojana’. Under this scheme, a bonus of Rs 700 was given on purchase of paddy from farmers, from which farmers got Rs 2500 per quintal.
Congress killed two birds with one stone
Congress is calling itself farmer friendly to get more support from farmers against BJP on this issue. While the central government has fixed the minimum support price of paddy for 2023-24 at Rs 2,183 per quintal, the Chhattisgarh government has announced purchase of paddy at Rs 2,800 per quintal. In the Madhya Pradesh election manifesto, the party has announced that the Congress will buy paddy at Rs 2500 per quintal and wheat at Rs 2600 per quintal if the government is formed. Also, their mission will move towards yielding 3000 quintals. Thus, the Congress wants to corner the BJP central government as well as the state governments on this issue in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Dung politics
As in Chhattisgarh, the Congress launched the Godhan Nyaya Yojana in Chhattisgarh in July 2020 to respond to dung politics with dung. In this the government purchases cowdung from the farmers at the rate of Rs.02 per kg. Congress in its Madhya Pradesh election manifesto said that in the same manner it will buy cow dung at Rs 02 per kg in Madhya Pradesh. Farmers release dairy animals when they stop giving milk. This is why the opposition always besieges the BJP on the issue of stray animals. Congress is cornering BJP under this scheme that cow is not just a slogan for us, we have a plan for it, through which we will serve cow and benefit farmers.
Look at the farmers of Telangana
Telangana Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has announced benefits of Rs 15,000 and Rs 12,000 per year for both landlords and tenant farmers under the Raithubandhu scheme in a tough challenge to the Indian National Committee (BRS). Under the Raithubandhu scheme, the Telangana government provides a total financial assistance of Rs 10000 as assistance to farmers for both rabi and kharif seasons. Besides buying agricultural produce at the minimum support price, the Congress has also promised a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal on paddy.
Farmers are worried about the price of produce
Farmers have always faced the problem of not getting the right price for their produce, as the price of their produce goes down when it reaches the market, resulting in loss to the farmers. Hence, farmer organizations continue to demand legal guarantee of MSP from the government. The government procures 23 crops from farmers through MSP so that they can get assured purchase market as well as fair price guarantee. But without a legal mandate, the government is not bound to buy 23 crops under MSP. Still, government agencies are able to purchase only 30 to 40 percent of the total production of a crop at MSP.
Also Read: Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2023: Congress to organize ERCP Yatra from 16, know complete plan
MSP is the Minimum Price Protection Regulation given to farmers by the government. It is through MSP that the government buys the produce of the farmers so that they can get an assured purchase market as well as an assured price. If the central government gives a legal guarantee for MSP, it will be mandatory for private companies to pay MSP rates.
MSP of wheat increased the most
After the Congress party promised to buy wheat at Rs 2,600 per quintal in its Madhya Pradesh election manifesto, the Narendra Modi government has raised the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat for the marketing year 2024 by Rs 150 from Rs 2125 to Rs 2275. -25. gave This time the central government has raised the wheat MSP the most in the last nine years. Attempts will be made to capitalize on it in this assembly election.
(Tags-Translation) Assembly Elections ) ) Dung Politics