Amid Protest, How BJP Plans To Woo Farmers Ahead Of 2024 Lok Sabha Elections

New Delhi: As part of the “Gram Parikrama Yatra” program, the Bharatiya Janata Party is engaging in a crucial dialogue with the farmers of 1.25 lakh villages all over the nation. This program, which began on February 12 and will last for a month, will end on March 12. In the meantime, the government has declared a hike of Rs 25 in the sugarcane FRP to Rs 340 per quintal for the 2024-25 season that starts in October. The Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) is the minimum price that the mills are required to pay to the sugarcane growers. The Bharatiya Janata Party is fully prepared to win over the farmers before the Lok Sabha elections and that is why it is constantly organizing various programs to connect with them.

The National President of the BJP’s Kisan Morcha, Rajkumar Chahar, said, “We are reaching out to the farmers through Gaon Parikrama Yatra and Kisan Chaupal. Our aim is to get feedback from the farmers and to understand what they expect from Modi ji so that we can prepare the “Sankalp patra”. We can include these things in our manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. We can make them part of Modi’s promise.”

The programs that took place across the country were shown on 900 screens, that is, by setting up one screen in each district, the village parikrama yatra and Kisan Chaupal were broadcasted live to the workers and farmers. We have communicated with the farmers by distributing pamphlets about the work done by the Modi government for the welfare of farmers and by walking around the village under the Gram Parikrama yatra. Under Kisan Chaupal, we have established communication with the workers and farmers, and we have also honoured the ex-servicemen or martyr’s families in the village and those who are progressive farmers.

A Gram Parikrama Yatra kicked off on February 12 in Sukh Teerth of Muzaffarnagar in Western Uttar Pradesh. In this journey, around 20,000 farmers joined the first rally. The program was addressed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP Kisan Morcha National President Rajkumar Chahar, BJP Uttar Pradesh chief president Bhupendra Yadav, Dharampal Singh, and local leaders. We also had a dialogue with the villagers.

“There is no resistance of any kind anywhere in the Gaon Parikrama Yatra because of the work done by the Modi government in the last 10 years, from the Kisan Fasal Yojana, Kisan Samman Nidhi, crop insurance, Kisan Rail Deep Irrigation, Nano Urea and its 50 per cent subsidy to 300 units of free electricity. Farmers are very enthusiastic about electricity, and MSP is given on crops. Under Modi’s government, MSP has gone up by 1.5 times and 2 times. We are reaching 1.25 lakh villages.” BJP Kisan Morcha National President Rajkumar Chahar said.

“MSP seems to be the main issue right now. There is a lot of buying on MSP on some crops in Punjab. MSP has kept increasing in production. Exports are also high and the government is continuously sitting in Chandigarh for talks. The solution will be found through talks. The government has been taking decisions in the interest of farmers before and will continue to do so in the future as well. Some issues need good discussion in the interest of farmers, like the issue of MSP” he added.

Centre Hikes Sugarcane Procurement Price

The decision to raise the FRP of sugarcane was taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The hike of Rs 25 per quintal is the highest by the Modi government and the move comes before the general elections. Sugarcane is mainly cultivated in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka.

"Keeping in view interest of sugarcane farmers (GannaKisan), the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane for sugar season 2024-25 (October - September) at Rs 340 per quintal for a basic recovery rate of 10.25 per cent," I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said at a media briefing. The FRP has been determined on the basis of recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and after consultation with state governments and other stakeholders.