The angry kisan and the future of politics

The BJP may have won the Gujarat assembly election with a simple majority, bagging 99 of the total 182 seats, but it was the party’s lowest tally in the state in nearly two decades. A key reason for that was farmers’ discontent in the Saurashtra region and it will be a critical issue in the four major states going to the polls in 2018, three of which — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — are ruled by the BJP.

Agrarian distress will also be one of the party’s major election planks in Karnataka, which will be the first of the four to vote, in March-April, and where the BJP is looking to dethrone the Congress. The BJP’s performance in the assembly polls will be crucial to its prospects in the 2019 general election. ET Magazine travels to these states to understand why the farmers are unhappy.

Karnataka farmers seek more support as loan waiver fails to impress


MP not keen on loan waiver, banks on interest-free loans to solve farm woes

In Chhattisgarh, farmers face inadequate MSP, difficulty in insurance claims

Farmers in Rajasthan wait for a loan waiver