Video Producer: Anubhav Mishra
Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam
As the state Assembly elections knock at Madhya Pradesh’s door, agrarian distress and state farm crisis is a significant cause of distress among Mandsaur’s farmers.
Their anger against the government could hamper the BJP’s performance in the region. They say they don’t want compensation, insurance or loan waivers, just the ‘right price’ for their produce.
“Pehle angrezo ne hume gulam banaya aur ab Shivraj kisano ko gulam bana raha hai (First the British enslaved us, and now Shivraj Singh Chouhan has made farmers slaves).”Paras Chaudhury, Farmer
This distress and anger comes in light of the farmer protests that took place in Mandsaur in 2017, in which at least six farmers were killed in police firing. Farmers feel that the government and political parties have made it a political issue for their benefit. Some of them are ready to vote for NOTA this time around.
Echoing the vehement opposition against the government, Anil Soni, a farmer from Nagri, said,“A common man doesn’t want to die like he died during the 2017 farmer agitation, but what do we do?”
“Ek taraf toh sarkar hume andata kehti hai aur dusti taraf juta marti hai (On one hand, the government says we feed everyone in the country, and on the other hand, they insult us like this),” Soni added.
A group of farmers in the mandi said they are selling garlic for Rs 500-Rs 1,800, which they used to sell for Rs 4,000-10,000.
The brewing unrest among the farmers of Mandsaur give a sense that it could be the farmers that give the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government a big jolt in the state election.
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