A HARVEST OF AMBITIONS

Sons of the soil come in various packages, union men to strongmen to Left veterans. What they have in common is a deep connect with the land

- Prashant Srivastava, Rohit Parihar, Arkamoy Datta Majumdar, Rahul Noronha and Amitabh Srivastava

THE DEBUTANTS | FARMER LEADERS

HARENDRA MALIK, 69

SAMAJWADI PARTY | Muzaffarnagar, UP

A slogan that went viral said it all. It’s not just that he started as a student leader in 1978, in the high noon of Jat farmer icon Charan Singh’s political life. Or that four MLA terms, one stint in the Rajya Sabha and three political parties later, he defeated fellow Jat and local BJP toughie Sanjeev Balyan in a high-stakes contest. Right after his oath-taking, the burly Malik leaned into the mic and said, “Jai Chaudhary Charan Singh, Jai Netaji Mulayam Singh, Jai Akhilesh.” No one in western UP missed that thumbed nose at Charan Singh’s grandson, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhury, watching from the treasury benches.

AMRA RAM, 68

CPI (M) | Sikar, Rajasthan