In poll season, parties from both sides gear up to make farmer’s issue a poll subject in Bihar

Bihar has largely remained aloof from any farmers’ movement in recent past and agriculture has not been an election issue in the state. Ahead of the upcoming assembly polls, though, political parties are trying to make it an election issue. While the ruling BJP-JD(U) combine is going gaga over the bills, opposition RJD has called a state-wide protest on September 25 opposing the legislation.

“Farmers in Bihar will get more benefits out of this bill. In Bihar, we had repealed the APMC Act in 2006 itself. But farmers didn’t get benefits because the Mandi system was there in other states,” Bihar agriculture minister Prem Kumar told ET. “Now, with one additional market across the country, Bihar farmers will benefit.”

The BJP leader said the government is in the process of forming farmers’ interest groups to promote community farming and take their produce to the market. “Definitely, we will tell the farmers of the state how beneficial this is going to be, and we will get their blessings in the upcoming election,” said Kumar.


On Monday, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had said that the farm bills are in the interest of the farmers. His party, JD(U), had supported the bills in Parliament.

Opposition RJD, on the other hand, attacked the government over the situation of farmers in the state. “Forget about competitive prices, the farmers of Bihar are even struggling to get MSP (minimum support price) for their produce,” senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari told ET. “Since the APMC ACT was repealed in Bihar in 2006, not even one per cent of the target of procurement has been met in Bihar in all these years. Even agriculture growth has declined year-on-year in the state.”

This, he said, was a major reason for the increase in migration from the state in the past few years. RJD is planning a big political stir on September 25 with the support of alliance partners in Bihar.

“The hastiness the government has shown in passing these agri bills raises a question on their motive. They have no respect for the farmers,” Tejashwi Yadav, RJD leader, told media persons in Patna on Tuesday.

However, it is unclear whether this political posturing from both sides would make agriculture a poll issue.

One reason for the relative apathy of farmers in Bihar – unlike in Haryana and Punjab, where farmers’ protests have erupted against the legislations – is that about 95 per cent of the farmers in the state are small and marginal farmers and agriculture is largely dependent on rainfall. “There is also a division among the farmers on caste and community lines. As a result, agriculture takes a back seat in their priority list,” said Tiwari.