Poll-vaulting ambitions

A year after the start of the farmer agitation, unions prepare to face the big election test

- PRATUL SHARMA

In 2011, Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement captured the public’s imagination, forcing political parties to not just support the cause but align with its politics as well. The movement’s key leaders— Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav—did not want it to lose steam and be swallowed by political parties. So, they floated their own outfit, the Aam Aadmi Party, on November 26, 2012.

Political parties born of mass movements have had mixed results in India. Asom Gana Parishad, which had its origins in the agitation against illegal migrants, went to form government in Assam before its stock diminished. A new political outfit in the state, born of the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, could barely register its presence in the assembly polls held early this year.

Now, as the country prepares for the next round of assembly elections due early next year, leaders of the ongoing farm protests are feeling the heat. Constituents and supporters alike are asking them a question: whether to actively influence the elections or not.

Farmers are a politically influential group in at least three of five states where elections are due. As the pivot of the agitation, Punjab is likely to feel the farmer sentiment the most. Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where the BJP is in power, are also likely to feel it to some extent.