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Anup Datta
Bhopal, December 12
Though farm distress and farmers’ anger cast a long shadow on elections in the country’s Hindi belt, the BJP fared well in the Mandsaur Lok Sabha constituency, the centre of farmers’ unrest. Of the eight Assembly seats in the constituency spread over three districts, the BJP retained all seven, including Mandsaur, Garoth (Mandsaur district), Neemuch, Manasa, Jawad (Neemuch district) and Jaora (Ratlam district).
Surprisingly, in Mandsaur’s Malhargarh Assembly seat, where six agitating farmers were killed in police firing, BJP’s Jagdish Dewda, a former Home Minister, was victorious. Hardip Dang of the Congress retained the Suwarsa Assembly seat.
In June 2017, Mandsaur saw clashes between farmers and the police, leading to the death of six protesters. While the authorities struggled to restore normalcy, Congress president Rahul Gandhi tried to reach the trouble site to “pay homage” to the deceased, but was arrested. Thereafter, the Congress kept the farm distress issue alive. On Mandsaur’s first anniversary ahead of the Assembly elections, Rahul kicked off his party’s poll campaign in the state, promising a loan waiver to farmers. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government too announced a package for the kin of the deceased farmers and a host of other measures, such as a new price support scheme for pulses and oilseeds.
“I am amazed at the repeat verdict. I had expected the people of Mandsaur, Neemuch and Ratlam districts to vote against the government,” said Shyam Gurjar, a farmer in Neemuch district.
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