For the past 13 days, farmers have been on the Delhi border to oppose the three new agricultural ordinances. The centre has continuously been trying to make a deal with farmers. Maybe they want to show off how they’re ‘sorting’ out the ‘misunderstanding’ and the demands of the farmers.
But, even after the sixth round of meeting with the farmers, the centre still didn’t come out with any concrete solution. It doesn’t look like they want to sort out this issue because the BJP feels like this is a very good opportunity for them to make their way into Punjab through ‘Hindu votes’. Starting from the first day of the protest, the national media and the government have been trying to say these protests are planted by “Khalistanis“.
The government is constantly reiterating that these agitations are accompanied by Khalistanis, not farmers. In the shadow of this claim, the centre, many times, tried to curb the peaceful protest violently with the use of tear gas, lathi-charge and more. Isn’t the whole melodrama taking the shape of the ‘divide-and-rule’ campaign, just as the British Raj did?
For over twelve days, farmers have camped on the borders of Delhi in chilly weather conditions, seemingly without any hope. While the farmers claim on one side that the protestors belong to Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the national media and the government are trying to tell that this strike is only from Punjab and the strike has been imposed by the so-called ‘Khalistan supporters’. Even though the government is repeatedly saying that we are in talks with the farmers and this movement will end soon, the national media is constantly trying to prove that ‘anti-national forces’ are involved in the farmers’ dharna (protest).
Digging deeper, in Punjab, the Hindus constitute around 38% of the total voters. You can imagine what happens when thirty-three per cent of votes come out on one side. Ever since the Akali Dal ended the alliance with the BJP, they started preparing a strategy to establish its hold within Punjab. By giving a ‘Khalistani colour’ to this Kisan (farmer) movement, is the BJP trying to gain the sympathy of Hindu voters in Punjab?
In Punjab, the BJP had to resort to the Akali Dal in the elections. Despite being a national party, BJP had contested only 23 seats in Punjab and these 23 seats were mainly those seats where Hindu vote percentage was in majority. But perhaps after breaking the alliance with the Akali Dal, now the BJP is eyeing 117 seats and about 38% of the Hindu vote in Punjab?
The BJP’s vote percentage had fallen continuously since 2007. In 2007, where BJP, contested 23 seats and won 8.28% of the votes and won 19 seats, and in the 2012 elections, BJP’s vote percentage fell to 7.18% and won 12 out of 23 seats. But the BJP suffered a defeat in the 2017 elections due to the Akali Dal when the BJP’s vote percentage fell to 5.74% and only 3 seats were conquered.
In the last election, the public’s resentment with the Akali Dal was well known, due to which the BJP also had to bear the brunt of it. Due to this, tension began to develop in the internal leadership of the BJP and the workers, and leaders were talking to the high command repeatedly about separating from the Akali Dal while contesting elections. Also, the main reason for Navjot Singh Sidhu to break away from the BJP was the alliance with the Akali Dal, due to which he left the BJP and joined Congress. After Sidhu’s departure, I feel that the BJP neither has any prominent Sikh face to represent it, nor do they have anyone who can show a major one in upcoming elections.
Now somewhere, I think this is probably a golden opportunity for the BJP and those leaders to set their feet firmly in the state. Is the BJP trying to shine its Hindutva politics by giving a ‘Khalistani‘ angle to the farmers’ dharna?
But it remains to be seen what is the result of the conversation between the farmers and the government. Is the BJP seriously concerned about the farmers’ demand or are they just focusing on the 38% of Hindu votes?