Farmers in Haryana's Jind district burst crackers to celebrate BJP's poor performance in the Assembly polls. Courtesy: BKU Farmers agitating against the three farm laws since last year burst crackers and distributed sweets at dharna sites in Haryana as news came in of the BJP’s defeat in the assembly elections in West Bengal.
The protesting farmers called the West Bengal results their first significant win against the ruling BJP at the Centre, which will boost their agitation against the farm laws.
In the run-up to the elections, many farmer leaders of Samyunkta Kisan Morcha had toured several parts of Bengal to campaign against the BJP as part of their agitation. They had urged the voters not to vote for BJP, terming the farm laws as “anti-farmer”.
The election results were keenly followed at the protest sites in Haryana on Sunday. As soon as it became clear that Mamata Banerjee’s TMC was sweeping the polls, farmers at the venue of their protest at a toll plaza in Hisar district distributed gulab jamuns, while those at a toll plaza in Jind district burst crackers and distributed ladoos.
“Next year, the farmers from the entire country will go to Uttar Pradesh to defeat it [the ruling BJP] there in Assembly polls,” said Haryana BKU leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni, who had addressed several public meetings in Bengal against the farm laws.
“The BJP may disappear from the country,” said Chaduni in a video message addressed to the farmers. “Now, the reverse gear of the BJP government has started.”
Jind BKU president Azad Palwa said, “The Bengal results will give more strength to the farmers as they had campaigned against Prime Minister Narendra Modi there. This is our first big victory as the BJP had made the Bengal election a prestige issue.”
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