Ignored farmers Modi now gets a changkol up his
Loss of 38 seats in 5 states: Has BJP paid the price for ‘ignoring’ farmers?
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Arjun Munda lost by a big margin in Jharkhand.
NEW DELHI: The BJP got a major setback in Lok Sabha polls in states marked by farmers’ protests, resulting in the party falling short of the majority mark.
The Narendra Modi-led government had ignored the farmers’ demands and the ruling party lost seats which it had won in 2019 in different states. Moreover, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Arjun Munda lost by a big margin in Jharkhand.
The BJP has lost around 38 seats mostly confined to protesting farmers’ belts, such as western UP, Punjab, Haryana, northern Rajasthan and onion-growing belt in Maharashtra. In many places the BJP leaders had not been able to conduct their campaign.
Farmers resumed their protest in February to march towards Delhi but they were halted at Punjab-Haryana border. Farmers from Haryana and western UP had not been allowed to enter the capital. Experts say the impact of farmers’ protests has hurt the BJP’s prospects in other states too.
In western UP, the BJP lost polls in Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Kairana, Nagina, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, and also Lakhimpur Kheri where BJP minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s son ran over protesting farmers.
The BJP lost its two seats it had won in the previous election in Punjab, besides 11 seats in Rajasthan and five in Haryana. The party lost 12 out 13 seats in onion-growing belt of Maharashtra.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/na...s-has-bjp-paid-the-price-for-ignoring-farmers