Ajay Chautala of the Jannayak Janata Party said that “the government must solve the problem as soon as possible.”
Chandigarh:
The latest ally to warn the ruling BJP about continued farmers’ protests is the party of Dushyant Chautala, Haryana’s chief deputy minister. The government must think big and find a solution to the farmers’ demands, party chief Ajay Chautala said today.
At the same time, an independent MLA, Somvir Sangwan, withdrew from the ruling state coalition.
Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), which underpins the BJP government in Haryana, finds itself in a difficult situation in the ongoing protests near Delhi as farmers form its main vote bank.
Farmers are protesting three new laws that they fear will deprive them of guaranteed minimum prices for their products and take away government markets or mandis, where they were guaranteed yields from their harvest.
Haryana was widely criticized for using heavy force to try to block thousands of farmers on their way to Delhi. The police, on the orders of Chief Minister ML Khattar, used tear gas and water cannons against farmers at different points and even excavated roads.
“The government must solve farmers’ problems as soon as possible. Farmers must be firmly sure that the Minimum Livelihood Price (MSP) system will continue. MSP must be included in farm laws,” Ajay Chautala said, adding that “annadata“(the farmers) were in the streets desperate.
“The government’s talks with farmers’ organizations will have positive results,” added the JJP chief.
The BJP has already lost Akali Dal, a key Punjab ally, to agricultural laws and yesterday, a Rajasthani MP also threatened to end his alliance with the ruling party.
The Chautala have been relatively soft compared to some of their party men, for example MLA Jogi Ram Sihag. “The Haryana government has treated farmers fighting for their rights as if they were terrorists. This is not only an injustice, but also a heinous act against innocent farmers,” claimed Mr. Sihag.
Sihag even refused to hold a seat on a state housing board, demanding that the government cancel the farm laws.
Dushyant Chautala’s brother, Digvijay Chautala, added to his party’s bewilderment by posting a video in support of the farmers, saying: “Everything we have seen on television in the last two days has hurt all indigenous people.”
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