In Vidarbha’s Cotton Fields, Farmers Complain Of Low Prices, But Consider BJP’s Promises – News18

Last Updated:November 13, 2024, 07:00 IST

Maharashtra polls Vidarbha ground report: BJP is hoping that women who have got money from the scheme will support them

It is said that the road to power in Maharashtra goes through Vidarbha, the rural belt of the state. With 62 assembly seats, Vidarbha is also the cotton belt of Maharashtra, and one can see white balls of cotton across the fields as one drives across Wardha.

But there is a simmering discontent among the cotton farmers which proved to be a headache for the Mahayuti in the Lok Sabha elections, giving it just two of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Vidarbha.

“The yield of the cotton crop is low, the input cost is very high, and we are getting nearly Rs 1,000-1,200 below the minimum support price (MSP) for the cotton crop. It is a total disaster…things were much better in the Congress regime and Sharad Pawar cared for us,” a group of cotton farmers told News18 in Wardha, pointing to their cotton crop fields.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has done course-correction here after the Lok Sabha debacle.

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had, at a rally in Wardha two months ago, announced in the presence of PM Narendra Modi that the state would procure the cotton crop this season at a rate above the MRP. The BJP’s manifesto has also promised a 20% price cushion to farmers if the procurement price falls below the MRP. Such is the criticality that the BJP has also promised a full loan waiver to farmers in its manifesto. But in the cotton fields of Wardha, farmers are still circumspect.

“We will see when we go to sell our cotton crop to the mills in the next few days,” they say, when asked if they are satisfied with the BJP’s promises. The party’s top leaders are contesting from Vidarbha — Fadnavis and state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

But so are the Congress’s top state leaders, namely Nana Patole and Vijay Wadettiwar. This is heating up the political scene as the Congress accuses the Mahayuti government of cheating the cotton farmers and causing distress. “We will sweep Vidarbha this time,” Nana Patole told News18.

It is also in Vidarbha that there are maximum direct fights between the BJP and Congress — with 36 such seats. When the BJP stormed to power in Maharashtra in 2014 with 122 seats, it had won 44 of the 62 seats in Maharashtra. The tally fell to 29 seats in 2019, followed by the Lok Sabha debacle.

“If the BJP has to win Maharashtra, it has to win Vidarbha. It is clear,” a senior party leader told News18 in Nagpur, saying they are depending a lot on the Prime Minister’s campaign as well.

A factor that may aid the BJP this time in Vidarbha is its popular ‘Ladki Bahin Yojana’ in which women have got Rs 7,500 so far in five instalments and it has promised to raise the monthly payout to Rs 2,100 if it returns to power. Most workers who pick the cotton balls for harvest are women and they seem to be happy with the scheme. “Getting Rs 1,500 a month is important for us. We have got the money, and it helps us,” a group of women picking cotton balls in a Wardha village told News18.

The BJP is hoping that the women from the farmer community who have got the money will repose their faith in the party. It has also promised Rs 15,000 per year to each farmer, up from the current Rs 12,000. Farmers in Vidarbha say they are impressed with the BJP’s promises, but not fully. “We will make our decision on the voting day. We can’t say right now who will be our choice,” another group of farmers told News18 in an adjoining village.

Vidarbha is keeping its cards close to its chest.