Bhopal: When Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel met Union home minister Amit Shah recently, the latter was well aware of the cases the state government is investigating against the previous regime. “Bhupesh you must not spare any corrupt BJP leader,” Shah seems to have advised him, tongue in cheek, to which Baghel kept quiet. It is an indication that the BJP leaders have been complaining against Baghel to their party high command and that Baghel’s confrontational strategies have caught Shah’s attention.

Over 15 years in the opposition has made Baghel a street fighter, like much of the BJP rank and file used to be pre-2014. His natural inclination is towards confrontation. His government’s demand for Rs 2,500 as the minimum support price (MSP) per quintal for paddy procurement has led him into another bout with the Union government. The Congress had promised in its manifesto to procure paddy at that price. The Raman Singh government had paid an average of Rs 2,050 in 2018, including a bonus of Rs 300. Baghel had managed to pay another bonus amount of Rs 450 in January this year, which caused a burden of Rs 7,500 crore on the exchequer.

The Centre has announced an MSP of Rs 1,800 for paddy this year. After procuring some 80 lakh tonne paddy, 40 lakh tonne of rice is ready after custom milling. Of this, the Centre has a commitment to take 20 lakh tonne or pay 50% of the procurement price minus the bonus. The Centre has refused to procure it this year, claiming it already has a surplus in the Central pool. It would mean the state government is left with the bill for the entire stock at Rs 2,500 per quintal.

So what does Baghel do? He has asked the Youth Congress to gherao every BJP MP’s house and play the nagada, a local drum. He has collected some 13.5 lakh letters from farmers demanding procurement price of Rs 2,500 and deposited them at the governor’s doorstep. He has even got the governor Anusuiya Uikey to recommend to the Centre that the demand is fair. So far, the Centre has not responded and the procurement date of December 1st is less than a week away.

Gai and gothan policy

Baghel seems bent on snatching the cow from the BJP’s shed. He has drafted a policy which makes gothan (cow shelters) compulsory in every village. For this, the panchayat will have a separate sub-committee to monitor and record its functioning. It will consist of the sarpanch, the panchayat sachiv and some other villagers. These cow shelters will be built on government or forest-owned land and will be given a certain budget to function properly. One of the political aims is to provide Hindus not aligned with the BJP’s brand of Hindutva a socio-political space. More than that, perhaps to snatch the rival’s space or prevent it from developing further.

Also Read: Chhattisgarh: How Bastar Became 'BJP Mukt'

Ram Vangaman Path

Since the Supreme Court's Ayodhya verdict, the Ram Mandir has had important developments in Chhattisgarh as well. The tourism department believes that it should chart the route that Ram is believed to have taken from Ayodhya on his way to Lanka. It is believed he entered modern-day Chhattisgarh somewhere near Jashpur in the north and wound his way through the central plains and exited from Bastar in the south.

After the cabinet took a decision to this effect last week, a state press release said:

“Chhattisgarh government is developing the Ram Van Gaman path from a tourist point of view. Looking to its development, these (eight identified places) must be made familiar with tourists, devotees and people from within the state. Facilities will be created for tourists that come to these spots. For these places the state government will allocate a budget, and will also ask the Centre for funds for these projects so that they get national and international fame.”

Of course, the Congress believes that this will help them prevent the BJP from appropriating Ram and this may also be useful in the long term as counter-propaganda, if the temple in Ayodhya is completed in time for the next general elections.

Mata Kaushalya

Mahants of various sects in Chhattisgarh play an important political role. Mahant Ram Sunder Das of the Dudhadhari Math has taken upon himself to determine the date of birth of Ram’s mother Mata Kaushalya and celebrate it in a big way. Sirpur, near Raipur, is believed to be the birthplace of Kaushalya and that makes it Ram’s nanihaal. That being the case, how can it not be useful at this juncture in Indian politics?

So Das, who is reportedly backed by Baghel, has announced a reward of Rs 11 lakh to anyone who can determine through astrology and religious texts the exact date of birth of Mata Kaushalya. Rest assured that the date will be announced soon and celebrated with fervour. After all, the BJP had converted the annual Punni Mela in Rajim into Rajim Kumbha for its own ends. The state tourism department has already announced a supportive tourist bus service for picnickers to Sirpur some 60 km from Raipur on the banks of Mahanadi.

Tricolour ration shops

It’s not just Ram and cows that Baghel wants to appropriate from the BJP's shelf. He has another ingenious plan to bill his government equally patriotic. Paint all the ration cards and fair price shops in the tricolour. All ration cards have been reissued and there is now an APL card as well apart from the BPL. The BPL get rice for Re 1, the APL at Rs 10. The new cards will all arrive in new colours and several hundred ration shops which had been held by BJP workers are now being turned over to the Congress faithful.

Will it work?

It’s not a million dollar question simply because there is no other plan. Baghel has staked everything on this. He believes his Narwa, Garuwa, Ghurwa, Badi  (water stream, cow, dung pit and backyard vegetable patch) is tremendous economics. He wants to take Chhattisgarh back to its roots, which may be a good emotional plan but has perhaps lost its context.

He shifted the paddy procurement date to December 1 from its usual November 15 and that in itself has become a big problem of storage. People no longer have Badi as almost all the paddy is harvested at the field and goes directly to the mandi. Easily available and labour conserving combine harvesters have changed post cropping patterns completely. Farmers no longer build storage space. There is already a backlash in the villages where farmers are too poor to hold on to their produce for a month.

The tangible benefits of 15 years of government-backed Rajim Kumbha are yet to be fully assessed and eventually, may not have helped the BJP in a big way. It also developed a host of small religious sites over 15 years but they have remained weekend picnic spots for people in Raipur. So to expect Sirpur or Mata Kaushalya celebrations or Ram Vangaman Path to vigorously damage the Hindutva base may be premature. Some in the BJP are inclined to believe that it may actually be to the BJP’s advantage, as it will help propagate its core agenda. So there has been no vociferous clapping or objection to any of these schemes.

The one main advantage that Baghel has is that the Raman Singh-led BJP in the state is somnolent and has not arisen from its 15-year dream. It has become like the Congress of yore: lazy in opposition and expecting a miracle in its favour all the while. It will have to reorganise fast to take on a rampaging Baghel. He may yet succeed in striking an emotional bond with the rural areas of the state.

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