Vijoo Krishnan
The Lok Sabha election results have come as a victory of people’s movements and significant rebuff to the authoritarian, communal-corporate Narendra Modi led NDA. The peasants and workers have been the most consistent forces that have relentlessly built-up struggles against the BJP regime from day one of Narendra Modi coming to power a decade ago.
The building of an issue-based unity against the draconian Land Acquisition Ordinance immediately after it was promulgated in December, 2014 and struggles by the Bhumi Adhikar Andolan, with the opposition parties also taking up the cudgels in the Parliament led to its withdrawal. This was the first defeat faced by the Narendra Modi led dispensation and undoubtedly it was in the wake of the issue-based united struggle not letting it go. The struggles did not cease with this victory alone. Struggles were launched against the attack on livelihoods of people, the demonetisation led crisis, the attacks in the name of Gauraksha, against privatisation and sale of Public Sector Undertakings, against the encroachment on Forest Rights, against the National Monetisation Pipeline and various issues.
The Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions has had a longer presence and they have played the role of countering the Neoliberal policies for decades and their experience also benefited the peasants’ movement. By June 2017 after the killing of farmers in police firing at Mandsaur in BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh, yet another issue-based unity called the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee was formed which took the struggles to a different plane. The Kisan Long March from Nashik to Mumbai in March, 2018 caught the imagination of masses and sent a clear message that the BJP could be defeated and their invincibility was merely a creation of the corporate media and propaganda.
The slogan BJP-Modi Kisan Virodhi emerged as an important factor in creating an atmosphere against the BJP regime. Even when the BJP managed to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the wake of the Pulwama incident and heightened ultra-nationalistic campaign post the Balakot airstrike, one cannot forget that in the State elections prior to that the BJP had been defeated in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
In the second term of Narendra Modi the struggles intensified. The historic united struggle of the peasantry and workers against the 3 pro-corporate Farm Acts and the 4 Labour Codes despite great repression and martyrdom of about 750 comrades emerged as a beacon of hope as Narendra Modi was forced to accept defeat and withdraw the Farm Acts and also did not dare to pursue implementation of the Labor Codes.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha was the new issue-based unity that drew in the widest sections of the peasantry cutting across class lines. One cannot forget that the struggle was in the midst of a pandemic and when the fear of the disease kept large sections confined indoors under the stringent lockdown. They first won a victory over fear of the pandemic, of the State repression and that in no small measure helped in the final victory when the three Acts were withdrawn.
The Muzaffarnagar Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat clearly proclaimed that the divisive communal agenda would be defeated by the unity of workers and peasants. The SKM decisively created the narrative that the struggle was against the corporate loot; it was against the Modani Model, pitting the peasantry directly against the likes of the Adanis and Ambanis and epitomised them as the corporate cronies of the ruling regime for whose profiteering Narendra Modi was willing to sacrifice the interests of the millions of peasants and workers. This narrative was amplified by the opposition parties too and had a significant role in the electoral defeat of the BJP.
The SKM call BJP Ko Sajaa Do / Punish BJP was carried out across the country and SKM-JPCTUs took out many campaigns exposing the pro-corporate, communal policies of the BJP. A campaign against the Agniveer Scheme, the treatment of women wrestlers and other issues were also taken up. In Punjab and Haryana the BJP candidates could not even freely enter the villages as they were met with protests by farmers. Massive literature, posters and campaign was carried out too in coordination with the Trade Unions. A consistent campaign was also carried out against Ajay Mishra Teni responsible for the Lakhimpur Kheri incident where his son’s vehicle mowed down 5 farmers and a journalist. The election results also vouch for the effective role of these campaigns. In the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan which were the main centres of the struggle, the BJP lost badly in many of the rural seats.
According to a report by Jitendra Choubey in the New Indian Express, in the farm belt of 5 States of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Maharashtra BJP lost 38 seats. In Western UP it has lost in Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Kairana, Nagina, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur and most significantly Lakhimpur Kheri from where Ajay Mishra Teni lost the elections. BJP could not win a single seat in Punjab and has lost 5 seats in Haryana. In Rajasthan where it had won all the 25 seats in the last elections, the BJP has lost 11 seats in the farm belt. In Maharashtra’s onion belt including two Union Ministers who were defeated, the NDA lost 12 seats with BJP drawing zero. The Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda also lost in Jharkhand.
The AIKS Vice President Com.Amra Ram who was one of the main leaders of the farmers’ struggle and who led the struggle on the Shahjahanpur Border for 13 months has won as the INDIA supported CPI-M candidate from Sikar. In Bihar which also witnessed consistent implementation of the SKM calls Com.Rajaram Singh, General Secretary of the All India Kisan Mahasabha who was an important leader of the united struggle and Com.Sudama Prasad its leader got elected from Karakat and Arrah as the INDIA supported CPI-ML Liberation candidates. In Maharashtra BJP lost 12 seats in the farm belt. The INDIA supported CPI-M candidate Satchidanandam who won from Dindigul in Tamilnadu by over 4 lakh votes is also a leader of the All India Kisan Sabha. If one were to look at the other States also the impact of these struggles will come out more clearly.
In the wake of the serious setback to the authoritarian corporate-communal BJP in the Lok Sabha elections there has been a clamour to crown certain individuals as the “saviour”. Some have been quick to place the laurels on individual political leaders. Some have also placed the laurels on Youtubers or independent journalists like Dhruv Rathee, Ravish Kumar and many others who took on a campaign against the political propaganda of the right wing and the corporate Godi media. The efforts of such individuals and opposition Parties have undoubtedly also had a role in the fight against the BJP and they all deserve credit.
This approach however has a significant flaw that tends to undermine the collective efforts of movements which actually in the first place created the confidence that Narendra Modi was not invincible. The struggles of the youth, the student, women, the oppressed and the historic struggle against the CAA have all also had a role. The fearless voices of dissent, many who are languishing for years in prisons have also undoubtedly played a role. Thousands of unsung people who have selflessly worked with no expectation of any personal benefits, to defend the constitution, democracy, secularism and federal rights also cannot be forgotten.
The significant rebuff given to the authoritarian BJP is a cumulative of all these efforts including of people like Dhruv Rathee, Ravish Kumar, leaders of different opposition parties, civil society and a host of others. The peasants and workers’ movements were the driving force that created the atmosphere and confidence that victory was possible.
The author is an independent writer on politics and agrarian economy. The views are personal.
The building of an issue-based unity against the draconian Land Acquisition Ordinance immediately after it was promulgated in December, 2014 and struggles by the Bhumi Adhikar Andolan, with the opposition parties also taking up the cudgels in the Parliament led to its withdrawal. This was the first defeat faced by the Narendra Modi led dispensation and undoubtedly it was in the wake of the issue-based united struggle not letting it go. The struggles did not cease with this victory alone. Struggles were launched against the attack on livelihoods of people, the demonetisation led crisis, the attacks in the name of Gauraksha, against privatisation and sale of Public Sector Undertakings, against the encroachment on Forest Rights, against the National Monetisation Pipeline and various issues.
The Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions has had a longer presence and they have played the role of countering the Neoliberal policies for decades and their experience also benefited the peasants’ movement. By June 2017 after the killing of farmers in police firing at Mandsaur in BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh, yet another issue-based unity called the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee was formed which took the struggles to a different plane. The Kisan Long March from Nashik to Mumbai in March, 2018 caught the imagination of masses and sent a clear message that the BJP could be defeated and their invincibility was merely a creation of the corporate media and propaganda.
The slogan BJP-Modi Kisan Virodhi emerged as an important factor in creating an atmosphere against the BJP regime. Even when the BJP managed to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the wake of the Pulwama incident and heightened ultra-nationalistic campaign post the Balakot airstrike, one cannot forget that in the State elections prior to that the BJP had been defeated in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
In the second term of Narendra Modi the struggles intensified. The historic united struggle of the peasantry and workers against the 3 pro-corporate Farm Acts and the 4 Labour Codes despite great repression and martyrdom of about 750 comrades emerged as a beacon of hope as Narendra Modi was forced to accept defeat and withdraw the Farm Acts and also did not dare to pursue implementation of the Labor Codes.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha was the new issue-based unity that drew in the widest sections of the peasantry cutting across class lines. One cannot forget that the struggle was in the midst of a pandemic and when the fear of the disease kept large sections confined indoors under the stringent lockdown. They first won a victory over fear of the pandemic, of the State repression and that in no small measure helped in the final victory when the three Acts were withdrawn.
The Muzaffarnagar Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat clearly proclaimed that the divisive communal agenda would be defeated by the unity of workers and peasants. The SKM decisively created the narrative that the struggle was against the corporate loot; it was against the Modani Model, pitting the peasantry directly against the likes of the Adanis and Ambanis and epitomised them as the corporate cronies of the ruling regime for whose profiteering Narendra Modi was willing to sacrifice the interests of the millions of peasants and workers. This narrative was amplified by the opposition parties too and had a significant role in the electoral defeat of the BJP.
The SKM call BJP Ko Sajaa Do / Punish BJP was carried out across the country and SKM-JPCTUs took out many campaigns exposing the pro-corporate, communal policies of the BJP. A campaign against the Agniveer Scheme, the treatment of women wrestlers and other issues were also taken up. In Punjab and Haryana the BJP candidates could not even freely enter the villages as they were met with protests by farmers. Massive literature, posters and campaign was carried out too in coordination with the Trade Unions. A consistent campaign was also carried out against Ajay Mishra Teni responsible for the Lakhimpur Kheri incident where his son’s vehicle mowed down 5 farmers and a journalist. The election results also vouch for the effective role of these campaigns. In the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan which were the main centres of the struggle, the BJP lost badly in many of the rural seats.
According to a report by Jitendra Choubey in the New Indian Express, in the farm belt of 5 States of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Maharashtra BJP lost 38 seats. In Western UP it has lost in Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Kairana, Nagina, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur and most significantly Lakhimpur Kheri from where Ajay Mishra Teni lost the elections. BJP could not win a single seat in Punjab and has lost 5 seats in Haryana. In Rajasthan where it had won all the 25 seats in the last elections, the BJP has lost 11 seats in the farm belt. In Maharashtra’s onion belt including two Union Ministers who were defeated, the NDA lost 12 seats with BJP drawing zero. The Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda also lost in Jharkhand.
The AIKS Vice President Com.Amra Ram who was one of the main leaders of the farmers’ struggle and who led the struggle on the Shahjahanpur Border for 13 months has won as the INDIA supported CPI-M candidate from Sikar. In Bihar which also witnessed consistent implementation of the SKM calls Com.Rajaram Singh, General Secretary of the All India Kisan Mahasabha who was an important leader of the united struggle and Com.Sudama Prasad its leader got elected from Karakat and Arrah as the INDIA supported CPI-ML Liberation candidates. In Maharashtra BJP lost 12 seats in the farm belt. The INDIA supported CPI-M candidate Satchidanandam who won from Dindigul in Tamilnadu by over 4 lakh votes is also a leader of the All India Kisan Sabha. If one were to look at the other States also the impact of these struggles will come out more clearly.
In the wake of the serious setback to the authoritarian corporate-communal BJP in the Lok Sabha elections there has been a clamour to crown certain individuals as the “saviour”. Some have been quick to place the laurels on individual political leaders. Some have also placed the laurels on Youtubers or independent journalists like Dhruv Rathee, Ravish Kumar and many others who took on a campaign against the political propaganda of the right wing and the corporate Godi media. The efforts of such individuals and opposition Parties have undoubtedly also had a role in the fight against the BJP and they all deserve credit.
This approach however has a significant flaw that tends to undermine the collective efforts of movements which actually in the first place created the confidence that Narendra Modi was not invincible. The struggles of the youth, the student, women, the oppressed and the historic struggle against the CAA have all also had a role. The fearless voices of dissent, many who are languishing for years in prisons have also undoubtedly played a role. Thousands of unsung people who have selflessly worked with no expectation of any personal benefits, to defend the constitution, democracy, secularism and federal rights also cannot be forgotten.
The significant rebuff given to the authoritarian BJP is a cumulative of all these efforts including of people like Dhruv Rathee, Ravish Kumar, leaders of different opposition parties, civil society and a host of others. The peasants and workers’ movements were the driving force that created the atmosphere and confidence that victory was possible.
The author is an independent writer on politics and agrarian economy. The views are personal.
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