New Delhi: Jayant Chaudhary, president of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), has been a vocal voice during the farmers’ protests. The RLD has a strong presence in the sugarcane belt in western Uttar Pradesh, where farmers were most actively involved in the agitation against the Bharatiya Janata Party government’s policies.
The RLD is among the parties to have gained the most political mileage because of the farmers’ protest. Now that the three farm laws have been repealed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, can parties like the RLD still count on votes from the distressed farmers?
The Wire spoke to Chaudhary about today’s decision, the over-year-long farmers’ agitation, the upcoming UP polls and more.
The farmers’ agitation over the past year made farmers, especially in western UP, angry. With the protest and farmers’ anger towards the BJP in UP, it seemed like there could not have been a better time for the RLD to turn things in it favour.
The assumption was that RLD would enjoy majority support from protesting farmers in western UP. But now that the prime minister has repealed the three farm laws, how does that change things? Do you still think farmers will vote against the BJP?
There are two aspects to this. Why were farmers angry with the BJP? Because they felt that there was an overreach by the Central government and a certain arrogance. The way that the agitation was being dealt with also induced anger. And of course the issues behind the anger were understood well by farmers. Let’s not think that farmers do not understand policy. Secondly, they were angry because of the farm and agrarian distress.
Today’s decision to repeal farm laws has done nothing to alleviate the distress. In fact, we have lost one year. In a way, we are back to square one. Until yesterday evening, BJP’s spin machinery, their workers, were going and saying the protesters are wrong, that they are not farmers, Modi-ji wants to bring great reform for the farmers. Now what will they say? Now Modi-ji has taken such a great decision. You can’t win both arguments.
This only proved to people that the past one year was wasted because of a bad decision taken by Modi. The farmers are not going to start clapping their hands and saying thank you Modi-ji, that’s not going to happen. They are going to assess who stood with them consistently.
Also read: How the Farmers’ Movement Brought the Modi Government to its Knees
The decision to take back the farm laws has of course come primarily because of the efforts of the farmers, but some opposition parties including the RLD have also been actively involved in articulating the demands of the farmers. Now that their main demand to repeal the laws has been met, do you think the issue will die down or will issues such as the deaths of about 700 farmers remain important in the upcoming elections in UP?
This is a hard-fought victory, but has come at a huge cost. It has proved to ordinary people that there is space for agitation in a democracy, that citizens are well within their rights to speak up against the government. In that sense it’s a huge moral victory. But that cost is going to remain. We are going to remember the farmers who died; the minister behind the Lakhimpur Kheri violence is still a minister, enjoying a cushy position of power.
In many respects, BJP’s pitch as a pro-farmer party or government has been completely destroyed. They will find it very difficult to justify the stand that they have been taking for the past one year in these next elections. People will punish them in the upcoming polls.
RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary. Photo: Facebook/Jayant Chaudhary
In the past two years we have seen many significant things, including the way COVID-19 was handled in UP. These issues have allowed for the emergence of politics beyond communal or caste-based issues in the states. With the issue of the three farm laws now over, what are some issues that the opposition parties like the RLD and Samajwadi Party will fight over?
The farmers were protesting against the three farm laws. But they were also asking for MSP and a number of other things which now need to be addressed. The agrarian distress due to rising electricity cost, diesel prices, unavailability of fertilisers – those problems are still very much there.
But the larger issue of governance will take centre stage in Uttar Pradesh. The farmers’ issue is going to be important and the next government will have to do a lot more to address that challenge. But for instance, the health sector is being talked about. In our own election manifesto, we have asked for a step up in public expenditure. We have also said that we will give Rs 4 lakh to all families who have lost people to COVID-19. In the past five years, Yogi [Adityanath] has failed to provide employment, he has failed to fulfil his promise of 70 lakh jobs. All these issues will become important.
The farmers’ protest had also brought together the Jats and Muslim farmers in western UP in their fight against the three laws. As president of a party most active in western UP, do you believe that the gap between Jats and Muslims that was widened after the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013 has now started to be bridged? If so, do you think that will benefit opposition parties in mobilising the crowds against voting for the BJP?
The terms Jat and Muslim are used very freely, when in fact just the Jat and Muslim combination is not the secret to success. And neither is it the case that only Jats and Muslims are farmers, or only they were involved in the farmers’ agitation. The RLD’s main pitch is not restricted to these two communities only.
As far as the question of whether social harmony has been reinforced, I firmly believe that people want to now move forward from the 2013 riots. We have done a number of bhaichara (brotherhood) programmes, where we invited people from across communities and gave them a platform to come together and express solidarity with each other. That creates social value. I think that is a very important long term plan which will yield results even in the next election. There are many examples of the coming together of the two communities. BJP tried its best to spin this issue and create a disturbance, take the example of the Agra case of custodial killing, but nothing happened. People no longer want to communalise matters.
The farmers’ protest also gave many politicians a fresh beginning. How important are the upcoming assembly elections in UP for your individual politics/on a personal level? Is it a make-or-break situation for you?
Well, I have been on both sides of the election. I have lost and I have won too. My only desire is to make the RLD a viable platform and have cross-community, cross-region participation. That is what I am trying to build. This election is going to be critical for us, a chance for us to show how we walked along certain paths and stayed consistent with issues of the people. We are hoping to establish that for political parties, being consistent can be helpful.
The BJP has had a stronghold over UP since 2017 with a majority of 312 seats in the assembly. Do you think it is possible to defeat them without more opposition parties in an alliance fold? Are there any plans to ally with other smaller parties?
The farmers who were sitting on the roads, they did not have a huge machinery behind them. But they have just won. Similarly, yes, I agree that BJP is hard to defeat given their cadre, money and resources.
Today, we are living in an age where the government is not distinguished from a party. For instance, I know for a fact that BJP workers get access to government information. The lists of beneficiaries of government schemes are with BJP workers. So that they can go to the booth and target those families. It is a very dangerous thing. Today, even the bureaucracy is afraid to take any decision that can work contrary to the government. Those fading lines have made it very difficult for a party which is in opposition to overcome these obstacles. But at the same time, it is all about the public opinion.
Definitely, a win is on the cards. There is resentment for the BJP, and also a lot of positive votes for the opposition. It’s not just anger against the BJP but also a positive vote for the issues that we are picking up. As far as talking about what combination can work, I think it is the combination which will be most effective. We are already working towards an alliance with the SP.
What will be the seat-sharing arrangement between RLD and SP? There is some news that the RLD is unhappy with the number of seats in this arrangement.
We have not formalised it yet, but we are hoping to conclude it soon. None of the other things you have said can be confirmed as they are based on people’s individual perceptions. These decisions are taken in such a way that not everyone can be privy to them.
RLD had only won one out of 403 seats in the previous assembly elections. How many seats are you expecting this time?
This time we are expecting decent numbers so that we can hold whichever government comes to account, if we are in opposition then we can hold the government accountable and if in government we can do something that will create a legacy for our people.
You have made many big promises in your recently released election manifesto including one crore jobs to youths, setting state advisory price (SAP) for sugarcane and guaranteed payments within 14 days if voted to power. You also said that you would double the Rs 6,000 paid to farmers in three instalments every year under the Centre’s PM Kisan Samman scheme. Without an active plan, this will seem like overpromising. What is your roadmap?
What is the incentive for us to come up with a manifesto. It is clear that we are already talking about an alliance. The reason that we needed to come up with a manifesto is because we needed to engage with the people’s issues. We have conducted this exercise of coming up with the manifesto with utmost seriousness. We have had internal debates, I have had meetings with policy experts, economists, agricultural experts, young people, students in Lucknow, Moradabad and many other districts.
I also issued a link using augmented reality for youth. This is an innovative way of making the policy making exercise more involving for common people. The aim was to engage with the issues and people, and now we have come up with a blueprint. Each of the promises have been debated internally and extensively discussed. For instance, if we talk about the one crore jobs, it is important to note that we are not saying that these will only be public sector jobs.
Also, the fact that one crore jobs in five years is only 3-4% of the population of UP. The government cannot provide avenues for employment for 3-4% of the population in five years? We have even come up with plans such as setting up a new PSU (Public Sector Undertaking) that will provide security services. There is no such initiative anywhere. We have talked about setting up the first university for drone and self-propelled technology in all of South Asia. Many such new ideas are being debated.
The RLD mobile application which allows for people to click selfies with you seems to be a strategic move considering how important technology has become in today’s world. But will such an initiative have any actual impact on the minds of voters?
Look at social media. Original naysayers would have said that Facebook and Twitter are informal, that leaders need to be more formal with their communication, why should their statements be limited by social media’s word limits? But now we know how important technology is in getting people’s opinions. Those cannot be ignored. If you look at farmers and young people today, they are very aspirational in their thinking and well connected with the rest of the world through the internet. It has truly become a globalised society because of technology. We need to address their concerns as politicians and reach out to them directly.
If during the farmers’ agitation, a farmer sitting and protesting could start a whole Twitter trend, there is no reason that the technology should not be accepted and adopted by people in villages. I think technology is intrinsically related to a society’s development. And as a political party, we are trying new and innovative things without worrying about how much it impacts voters’ minds.
Further in your manifesto, you have also vowed to provide 50% reservation to women in government jobs. But women’s issues go far deeper than this. There is a need for women in politics to represent their demands. The participation of women in politics has been low due to deeply entrenched patriarchal beliefs. Has RLD taken initiative to involve more women in politics, including giving tickets to women candidates?
I agree with you. I have two daughters, two sisters, and many aunties. So I have grown up in a household with lots of women and also seen a certain mindset that stops women. But I have a personal stake in changing things for them. I feel you are correct in your assessment.
When political parties talk about talent, we come across issues of low participation of women. We are trying to improve the optics. We have changed the name of our mahila sangathan, we call it naari shakti (women’s power) now. And we are doing specific programmes where only women are invited and only women are on stage. We are also trying to develop certain organisations and some cadres on the ground for women as a first step. I will not say that I am fully satisfied, we have a long way to go. But this is a beginning.
We are also not going to give tickets to any person accused of sexual harassment or any serious crimes against women. We have a screening committee for this in place and I will also personally ensure this. We know that the justice delivery system in India is very poor, and because of that this screening exercise becomes all the more important. We will also be screening our candidates for their attitude towards women.
Also read: ‘People’s Victory, But Protests Not Over Yet’: Farmers React to News of Repeal of Laws
The RLD has had alliances with Congress, the BJP and SP in the past. Based on that, some say that RLD has always followed power and not one ideology. How will people trust your promises?
Larger parties also engage with other parties for alliances. That is also based on political calculations. You can call it expediency or an issue-based alliance. It depends on one’s own perception. All of our alliances have been based on a certain set of ideas and now for the last many years, especially after the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, we have decided that we need to be very vocal and aggressive against such politics.
We have stood against that kind of politics. In fact we may have suffered because of it, because it would have been much easier for us to be on the other side since we have been out of power for many years now.
Your recent meeting with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at Lucknow airport sparked conversations about a possible alliance with Congress but later, you categorically denied the possibility. Congress is a national party but because of its declining significance in UP, do you think that an alliance will cause damage to any party that forms an alliance with the Congress?
I will not say anything disrespectful to the Congress party. That was a causal interaction. The reason I had to clarify my position was because of the speculation that followed after the meeting. Leaders meet each other all the time, but most times it goes unreported. I do believe that the Congress party has a role to play in the national level elections but in UP, I don’t see a resurgence.