Swift action, measured words — how BJP govt’s response to farmers’ protest has changed since 2020 – ThePrint – Select

But this time around, there’s a marked difference in the strategy of the Modi government. The ruling dispensation appears to be showing remarkable restraint — instead of attacking the protesters as it did in 2020 and branding them “Khalistanis”, the Modi government, it appears, wants to engage them, immediately despatching ministers to have parleys.

On television, too, this change is evident — the BJP has not only not sent its spokespersons to participate in debates on the protests, but ministers like Arjun Munda and Anurag Thakur have spoken about the need to deescalate the situation and voiced their willingness to discuss farmers’ demands.

According to party sources, with elections around the corner, the BJP is playing safer this time. The protests are bad optics, a senior BJP leader told ThePrint. “At the time the government is awarding Bharat Ratna to Chaudhary Charan Singh and M.S. Swaminathan, how can we say that the protest is wrong? People will ask why the government has not made any progress on the issue in the past three years. Farmers constitute a large constituency and that’s why the government is showing utmost seriousness to resolve the problem,” the leader said.

As soon as the farmers gave the call for a protest march to Delhi, three central ministers — agriculture minister Arjun Munda along with minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal and minister of state for home Nityanand Rai — rushed to speak to the farmers on 8 February. 

Since then, four rounds of talks have been held, with the latest one held Sunday. 

These protests come in the middle of seat-sharing talks between the BJP and its former Punjab ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which, in 2020, ended its two-decade-old alliance with the party over the controversial farm laws.

According to yet another BJP leader, the party did not anticipate the scale of protests back then.

“After the scrapping of the three farm laws, the government and the party are more sensitive knowing that its experience of branding the farmers’ protest as Khalistani backfired. Although it did not harm us electorally, it dented Prime Minister Modi’s image among Sikhs. The government has made several efforts to repair that image since. Sikhs are not only an important electoral section but they also form a huge international diaspora. We’re learning from our past mistakes,” this leader said.  

Also Read: BJP’s Jat-Sikh outreach in trouble as farmers protest again, RLD to Akalis facing heat

From 2020 to now – change in govt strategy 

Soon after the protests broke out in 2020, the BJP was seen taking on an all-out attack approach.

On 27 November that year — days after the protest began — BJP IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya purportedly tweeted an unverified video of a man citing former prime minister Indira Gandhi’s 1984 assassination in an apparent bid to threaten the Modi government. 

“What kind of farmers’ agitation is this? Malviya asked. “Is Capt Amarinder (who has since become a BJP leader) playing with fire? When will the Congress realise that politics of aligning with radical elements has reached its sell date”.

BJP’s IT cell spokesperson Tajinder Bagga posted a series of videos and tweets suggesting that the protests were “politically motivated” and blaming the Congress for it.

“Anyone who raises the slogan ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ can never be a farmer. A farmer is a patriot, a farmer cannot go against the country. Those who are chanting the slogan of ‘Khalistan zindabad’ are Congress agents,” he posted on X, then called Twitter.

Meanwhile, BJP general secretary Dushyant Gautam claimed that the protest had been hijacked by “extremist and pro-Khalistani” elements. “The agricultural laws are for the whole country, but why are the protests only in Punjab? Slogans of Khalistan Zindabad and Pakistan Zindabad have been raised by people in the protests. How can it be called a protest then?” said Gautam to mediapersons.

Even Attorney General  K.K. Venugopal had reportedly proffered the Khalistani infiltration theory before the Supreme Court. 

Three years later, however, the party’s response is more measured — instead of attacking the demand for MSP, the party, say sources, is using influencers to counter the demand. 

Government response to the protests, too, has likewise been mellow and markedly different. 

“I had already said that our efforts to hold positive discussions with the farmers’ union will continue,” Munda told the media this week, according to ANI. “Farmers’ organisations must understand that the decision on the law that is being talked about cannot be taken in such a way that people criticise the situation without thinking and understanding in the coming days. Rather, we should try to keep in mind all the aspects of it and discuss it.”

Anurag Thakur, meanwhile, called for calm. 

“We constantly say maintain peace and participate in the discussion. If PM Modi can save Naval officers from a death sentence in Qatar and bring them safely to the country, then we can find a solution (to this) through talks,” Thakur told the media. “Nothing will be achieved by violence or vandalism. It will cause harm to the country, so please continue the talks. I appeal to maintain peace and request the farmer leaders to join the talks.” 

In 2020, the central government first sent bureaucrats to hold talks. When that failed, it constituted a committee under the then agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Despite 11 rounds, talks remained inconclusive.

But the central government’s decision to send out its ministers for talks as an immediate response appears to show that it is keen to avoid past mistakes. 

“The best possible scenario for the government is to take the committee route so that the government will get time till Lok Sabha election. After the election, the government will think about it. (Because) Lok Sabha has been adjourned and the government is in election mode, legally, it’s not possible to make any change (right now),” a senior BJP leader quoted earlier said.

The leader, however, believes that the party needs to play the waiting game.

“The difference between this protest and the 2020 one is that the last time the agitation was more structured and was handled very smartly as there were civil society groups, actors, and sports people supporting it. This time, however, the protesters lack popular support. Any mistake will take the steam out of it and open the door for the BJP to attack them,” this leader said.

The motive appears to be to show the government in poor light, the leader said  “If such a motive is established, the party will start campaigning to expose them,” he said. 

However, the BJP remains optimistic that the protest will have no electoral impact. It also appears to be counting on its recent political moves, such as its alliance with the Jat party Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), to help it tide over the situation.

“It will not impact the party’s electoral prospects in states where Hindutva consolidation has taken place after the Ram Mandir event. It will not dent the party’s chances in the Hindi heartland states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, where the agitation has the potential to have some impact,” the BJP leader said, adding that if the protest escalates, the party will have to fine-tune its strategy.

But a BJP leader from Haryana was more cautious in his assessment, saying much depends on how the protest pans out. Currently, the scale of the protests is limited mostly to farmer unions from Punjab. However, if it widens, the party will have to revisit its strategy, this leader said.

“Our priority is farmers don’t reach Delhi. If they reach Delhi and other unions support the protest, then, despite our alliance with RLD, the party will have to recalibrate its strategy and the government will have to find some solution. Western UP, Haryana, and Rajasthan have significant Jat and farmer populations. The message shouldn’t go that the government is against farmers,” the MP said.

(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)

Also Read: Punjab farmers’ fury doesn’t translate to voting choices. Look at UP, MP, Rajasthan