The 10-day-long “village shutdown” (also called 'farmers holiday') to stop the supply of milk and vegetables to cities from June 1 and a Bharat Bandh called on Sunday could not generate statewide support and enthusiastic response from farmers despite Congress president Rahul Gandhi holding a massive rally in Mandsaur, the epicentre of the farmers protest.
The supply of milk and vegetables was not affected except for a day in some districts of the Malwa-Nimarh region in the western part of Madhya Pradesh and everything was normal otherwise, said BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agarwal. However, the farmers organisations claimed the protest was extremely successful.
The failure of the much-hyped farmers’ agitation is being attributed to the steps taken by the BJP government to pacify farmers. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, during the protest period, announced sop after sop and transferred over Rs 2,245 crore to the bank accounts of nearly 11 lakh registered farmers. This amount has been given as bonus to the wheat producers who sold their crops last year. A bonus of Rs 265 per quintal has been given to farmers, which is above the minimum support price announced by the Union government.
While the chief minister kept up his Santa Claus-like image among farmers, the state police and administration took a tough stand against the miscreants who tried to stop farmers coming to cities. Police registered cases against some Congress leaders for spreading rumours about the 10-day protest organised by various farmers organisation. In Dhar district, internet services were unofficially suspended for a day in order to prevent use of social media for spreading rumours, a government official said.
Also read
Even drones were deployed in Dewas and Mandsaur district to monitor the congregation of farmers and prevent any violent protest. Fearing violence, the state police and administration was on high alert during these days. The police had deployed 89 units of special armed force and 5,000 personnel in the 12 districts of western Madhya Pradesh.
While several farmer unions claimed that it was a joint effort of some 100 peasant organisations, the largest such union, the Kisan Sangh controlled by the RSS, kept a tacit distance. Anil Yadav of Bhartiya Kisan Union told mediapersons, “Our protest was symbolic and government's conscience has died several years ago.’’