Paddy gambit may hold the key to power in Chhattisgarh

On Friday afternoon, two days before campaigning for the first phase of the crucial assembly elections were to end, BJP leaders across the central plains of Chhattisgarh watched their television screens earnestly. The nervousness built as Union home minister Amit Shah settled into his chair in front of waiting cameras at the BJP headquarters in Raipur, and began to speak, announcing the salient points of the BJP’s manifesto. And they heard what they were waiting for: a guarantee to Chhattisgarh’s farmers that a future BJP-led government would acquire paddy at ₹3,100 per quintal per acre. One senior BJP leader based in Raipur said, “The paddy announcement was the most important. Now, we have a chance at winning this election.”

- Ritesh Mishra and Dipankar Ghose

In many ways, conversations around paddy have framed political fortunes in Chhattisgarh since it became a state in 2000. When Raman Singh came to power in 2003, he built an identity as “chawal vale baba”, the man that strengthened the state’s public distribution system. In 2013, looking for a third term in power, the BJP promised ₹2,100 per quintal, inclusive of MSP and a paddy bonus. The BJP won Chhattisgarh, but a year later, when they ascended the seat of power in Delhi as well, the Union government tightened their fists, actively discouraging the disbursal of a bonus. The Union government said that if a state undertaking decentralised procurement were to declare a bonus over and above the support price, the Centre would limit procurement from the central pool.

For two years between 2014 and 2016, the BJP in Chhattisgarh had to stop the paddy bonus. Under fire from farmer groups, the Raman Singh-led government did announce a bonus of ₹300 per quintal for the years 2016/17 and 2017/18, but the reluctance had become clear, and juxtaposed with a Congress campaign that centred itself around a ₹2,500 rupee per quintal promise. The BJP were reduced to its lowest tally ever, winning just 15 of the 90 seats on offer in 2018.