Just a few months ahead of the Haryana Assembly election, the farmers’ agitation is simmering again on the Punjab-Haryana border. Some farmer unions are mobilizing support for a march towards Delhi to push their long-pending demands, including a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP).
After the Punjab and Haryana High Court asked the Haryana government to open the Shambhu border, the farmer unions spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo March’ are now waiting for the Supreme Court’s orders on the Haryana government’s petition. The border was closed in February this year to prevent the movement of protesting farmers from Punjab to Haryana. “We are waiting for Supreme Court orders on the Shambhu border. Once the orders are received, we will hold a meeting and chalk out the strategy. We are not hoping for a positive outcome from the committee suggested by the apex court,” says Sarwan Singh Pandher of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee. The Supreme Court on Wednesday proposed to Punjab and Haryana to constitute a committee to discuss the farmers’ issues, highlighting that there was a “trust issue” between the governments and farmers.
Meanwhile, the High Court judgment has given an impetus to farmers who are planning to launch a multi-pronged approach to renew the Delhi Chalo March call. This development has come at a time when Haryana is going to polls in the next three months.
It has multiplied the problems for the ruling BJP in the state, which has recently faced backlash in the Lok Sabha elections from farmers, especially the Jat community, as it lost five of the 10 seats. Most of the seats that the party lost are rural. Even in urban seats, the victory margin has considerably declined.
