From Award Wapasi to the call by regional parties to unite in the name of federalism, the ongoing protest over the new farm laws could be a major political challenge for the BJP, especially at a time when it is betting big on 2021. from West Bengal. Assembly votes and prepares for elections in three more states.
After SAD leader Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa returned their Padma awards, India’s first Olympic boxing medalist Vijender Singh on Sunday threatened to return his award to Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.
Others who made similar announcements are former national boxing coach Gurbaksh Singh, who announced the return of his Dronacharya Award, and also Bhartiya Sahitya Akademi Award winners in Punjabi Sirmour Shire Dr. Mohanji, eminent thinker Dr. Jaswinder Singh and the Punjabi playwright and editor of the Punjabi Tribune Swarajbir.
When the media went viral with the news about the ‘boxer’ Vijender, the general secretary (Organization) of the BJP, BL Santhosh, recalled that Vijendra had contested elections on the congressional ballot before.
“He is projected by all the media as boxer Vijender Singh in support of the farmers’ agitation. Also, mention that he contested the LS elections on the @INCIndia ballot. Convenient removal of details,” Santosh tweeted hours after the boxer-turned-congressional leader made an appearance at Singhu in Delhi. border where farmers have been protesting the laws and said that Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna would return his award if the central government does not withdraw the new agricultural laws.
Five ex-Punjab athletes: winners Arjuna Rajbir Kaur and Gurmail Singh, who played hockey, ex-fighter Kartar Singh, ex-boxer Jaipal Singh and Dhyan Chand award winner Ajit Singh, also joined the protest on the Singhu border on Sunday.
More than the wapsi award, the biggest challenge for BJP is the ability of the farmers issue to galvanize the Opposition together, with the unrest building bridges across caste and community boundaries and reviving the Opposition campaign on the federal rights.
While Rahul Gandhi is trying to build a ‘farmer OBC Dalit’ axis, SAD MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, after his meeting with CM Uddhav Thackeray of Maharashtra on Sunday, raised the issue of central government interference in rights of state governments in education, agriculture, and law and order. .
Follow live updates on the farmers’ protest here
More than a week ago Delhi chalo The farmers’ protest started and the stalemate between the government and protesting farmers continues even after five rounds of talks as the government observes a Bharat Bandh backed by opposition parties on December 8 on this issue.
Chandumajra emphasized that it is necessary for regional parties to unite against attempts to centralize the country’s politics because if the states are weak, the country will be weaker. “Even Uddhav Thackeray is of the opinion that the rights of states must be protected,” he said.
The two former NDA allies, who resigned from Modi’s government in the past year, speaking of the union of regional parties at a time when most regional parties, including TMC, DMK, AAP, and RJD, have already extended their support for Bharat Bandh and they are raising the heat on agriculture is not a welcome news for BJP, who has burned his fingers at least twice in the past over agricultural problems.
The first time the Modi government had to retract its decision was in 2015, after it tried to introduce changes to the 2013 Land Acquisition Law passed by the UPA that sparked political uproar and protests across the country. Once again, it was in disuse after the murder of six farmers in a police shootout at Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh in 2018, after which it lost the Assembly ballot boxes in the state the next year.
In West Bengal, where the BJP is betting big, Mamata Banerjee had come to power in 2011 ending the 34-year rule of the CPI-M by launching a fierce agitation of farmers in Nandigram and Singur. When the farmers’ protest began last week, Mamata was quick to feel the mood and immediately declared her support for the farmers. The agricultural issue is a sensitive issue in rural Bengal.
CPN leader Sharad Pawar also warned the Center that if the stalemate continues, the upheaval will no longer be a Delhi-centric affair and will join people from other parts of the country as well.
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