INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The three farm bills brought in Parliament to replace the three Ordinances notified in June this year have become a friction point between
the BJP and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
The BJP's oldest ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has withdrawn from the Narendra Modi cabinet over the issue.The move comes in against
the backdrop of intensifying protests by farmers in Punjab
A ripple-effect is being seen in neighbouring Haryana, which has also seen protest by various farmers' organisations resulting in a clash
with police at least in one instance.In Haryana, the BJP lacks a majority of its own and is in power with the help of 10 MLAs of Dushyant
Chautala's Jannayak Janata Party (JJP)
In the bargain, the BJP gave Dushyant Chautala the position of the deputy chief minister.HARYANA HASSLES Becoming deputy chief minister was
significant for Dushyant Chautala, who campaigned with the ambition of becoming the chief minister of Haryana to bring back the political
glory of Chaudhary Devi Lal.But in the deputy chief minister's chair, Dushyant Chautala has found his party MLAs openly calling for his head
At least two JJP MLAs -- Ram Kumar Gautam and Devender Babli -- have gone public with demanding a change in party leadership.Pressure
mounted on Dushyant Chautala to part ways with the BJP after reports of police lathi-charge on protesting farmers at Pipli in Kurukshetra
The alleged incident took place on September 10.The JJP MLAs called for changing the party leadership forcing Dushyant Chautala to seek a
He did not order a probe as deputy CM but demanded one.Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, also the chief of Jannayak Janata
Party (JJP), is under pressure from party MLAs over his alliance with the BJP in the wake of protest by farmers over three farm bills
brought by the central government
(Photo: PTI)THE BADAL CONNECTIONSoon after, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, the powerful state BJP leader, refuted the claim of police
action against protesting farmers
Vij said there was no lathi-charge on farmers
Dushyant Chautala, under immense pressure, issued an apology for an incident that the state home minister said never occurred.Reports
suggest Dushyant Chautala is reconsidering the nature of his party's alliance with the BJP
This holds particular significance since the Shiromani Akali Dal has now withdrawn from the BJP-led government at the Centre.The Badals of
the Shiromani Akali Dal were the "key" players in getting Dushyant Chautala to tie up with the BJP in Haryana after the 2019 assembly
The BJP has 40 seats in the 90-member assembly and the Congress 31.Sukhbir Singh Badal, the Shiromani Akali Dal chief, has in the past
referred to Chaudhary Devi Lal, the former deputy prime minister and the great-grandfather of Dushyant Chautala, as one of the greatest
And, Dushyant Chautala claims the legacy of Devi Lal
This explains his dilemma of choosing between the politics of farmers and opportunity to stay in the government as deputy chief
minister.Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal has withdrawn from the Modi cabinet at the Centre over the three farm bills
(Photo: PTI)The Congress has made Dushyant Chautala's position even more difficult with Randeep Surjewala comparing his continuation as the
deputy chief minister with the resignation by Harsimrat Kaur Badal over the three farm bills
Surjewala said, "You [Dushyant Chautala] are more attached to your chair than [to] farmers."Incidentally, both Badals and Dushyant Chautala
appeared to support the three farm bills or the Ordinances that they are meant to replace
Both the SAD and the JJP have revised their stand seeing the gathering momentum in the protests by farmers over the farm bills.SPILLOVER
WORRY FOR BJP The worry for the BJP is that the farm bills may turn into a "cause" forcing other allies [read Lok Janshakti Party] to part
ways.Bihar is on the cusp of assembly elections
The BJP's allies -- the Janata Dal-United (JDU) of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the LJP -- are fighting in the open
LJP chief Chirag Paswan and his father, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan are unhappy with CM Nitish Kumar.The Paswans want a greater share in
seat allocation, something for which the JDU is not ready
Instead, the JDU has irked the LJP leaders by roping in rival Dalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) in the alliance
This prompted Chirag Paswan to say that he is ready to field candidates on all seats contested by the JDU.Incidentally, after resignation of
Harsimrat Kaur from the Modi cabinet, Ram Vilas Paswan is the only non-BJP leader with a cabinet rank
Ramdas Athawale came to the Rajya Sabha on the BJP's quota and is an MoS rank minister.Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan with his son and LJP
president Chirag PaswanThe BJP had alliance trouble in Ramdas Athawale's home state, where the Shiv Sena parted ways after 2019 Maharashtra
Assembly election despite contesting the polls together
The Shiv Sena wanted the chief ministerial position
The BJP was not ready to give it back.THE BIG PICTUREMaharashtra, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana are the states that gave credence to the BJP's
claim of cohesion in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).The BJP has always claimed that it strives for consensus in the alliance
and cited its acceptance of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab and the Janata Dal-United (JDU) in Bihar
as senior partners for long as proof of its assertion.That claim appears to be crumbling in past the six-seven years during which the BJP
has seen surge in vote power across the country.The first to desert the BJP was the Janata Dal-United (JDU) of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar, who after an experimental alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Lalu Prasad and the Congress, returned to the NDA fold in
about three years.The friction with the Shiromani Akali Dal has at least one other background than the farm bills
The BJP is asserting for a greater share in alliance for the Punjab Assembly election due for early 2022.With farmers' protest intensifying,
the SAD does not wish to be seen with the BJP, which plans to go the Punjab polls with a non-Jat Punjabi vote bank in its scheme.With
Harsimrat Kaur's resignation, the Shiromani Akali Dal has tried to shoot two birds with one stone -- separate messages to the farmers and
the BJP -- well in time for Punjab Assembly election
And, if Ram Vilas Paswan continues to feel suffocated in Bihar NDA, the farm bills could be a departure lounge for him as well
