In Rajasthan farmer belt parallel to Punjab, anger still simmers against BJP

Once considered a safe seat for the BJP, the Ganganagar Lok Sabha constituency located in an area that routinely registers the highest summer temperatures in Rajasthan is making the party sweat.

The reason is farmer anger, with Ganganagar residents active participants in the protests spearheaded by associations from neighbouring Punjab against the Centre, including one earlier this year over the MSP issue. Thousands were part of protests here, and with the Narendra Modi government standing firm against the demand to legalise MSP, anger is still palpable.

Spread over the districts of Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh, the constituency, which votes on April 19, is more than 70% rural, mainly dependent on agriculture, and on the Indira Gandhi Irrigation Canal which came up in the 1980s.

In the November 2023 Assembly elections, of the eight Assembly segments that fall under the Ganganagar Lok Sabha seat, five were won by the Congress. The BJP, which came to power in the state, got just two seats in Ganganagar while one went to an Independent.

In all, the BJP lost in 9 of the 11 Assembly seats where farmer issues are dominant, in the area.

Even in the panchayat elections held recently, the impact of the farmer protests was felt by the BJP, with the party failing to win a single zilla parishad or panchayat samiti board. Now, one of the main issues being raised by both the BJP and Congress is improving irrigation facilities for farmers.

On Tuesday, Ranjit Singh Raju, the Rajasthan president of the Gram Kisan Majdoor Samiti and other farmer leaders held a press conference in Ganganagar where they requested the people “not to vote for the BJP” but for any other party of their choice.

Raju told The Indian Express: “The BJP-led Central