Has deft handling of farmers’ protest increased Khattar’s stature ahead of crucial LS, Haryana polls?

New Delhi: The impeccable handling of ongoing farmers' protests, so far, by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has seemingly increased his stature amongst the top leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The handling has been deft and agile, a learning curve after the 2021 goof-up during similar protests when the state government remained a mute spectator as the protestors laid siege on the national capital for several months.

The Haryana government and its police have shown great strategic agility in dealing with the current crop of agitators, making them vanish from the news cycle within weeks. Use of UAVs for monitoring of crowds, banning heavy earth-moving equipment and not allowing protests to enter Haryana have been some tactics that have come for praise from the BJP’s central leadership.

The threat to revoke the Indian passports and visas of anyone participating in the protests seems to have also effectively crushed agitators’ morale.

And it comes even as Lok Sabha polls are just a few weeks away, while the state Assembly polls are scheduled for later this year.

It must be noted that the Haryana CM had come under severe criticism for being unable to handle farmers’ protests in 2021 after the three farm laws were introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

The issue turned out to be so embarrassing that the Central government had to withdraw the contentious laws to get these protestors to lift the siege from the national capital, which caused the biggest embarrassment to the Narendra Modi government in its second tenure.  Ever since there had been murmurs within the saffron ranks on the future of Khattar. However, after the faultless dealing with protesting elements this year, the section of BJP leaders baying for Khattar’s scalp has suffered a setback.

Changed strategy, guidance from Centre

During the 2021 protests, farmers were allowed to lay siege to the national capital for over a year, and the Haryana government was not even able to stop the protest or the supplies that continued to feed protestors with food and money.

However, this time the Narendra Modi government decided to put a leash on these protests and change its tactics by actively guiding the Haryana government.

The BJP knew that these protesters had the tacit backing of INDIA bloc allies Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress, who have been hoping to evolve these protests into a movement to dislodge the Narendra Modi government.

With just a few weeks left to go for general elections the need to put a leash on these protests was necessary as these could have turned violent, which could have sent a negative message across the country.

Unlike the last time, Khattar has openly attacked the AAP for providing support to protesting farmers.  “The Punjab government could have stopped the movement of farmers. If they didn’t, then there must have been some understanding. Supporting the demands of farmers is one thing but lending support to their movement does not send the right message,” Khattar said.

These comments assume significance as Haryana is sandwiched between Punjab and New Delhi, where the AAP is in control of the local governments. While a similar situation also prevailed during the earlier avatar of the farmers’ protest, this time around the BJP has decided to go on the offensive and restrict the movement at the Haryana-Punjab border itself and not allow these alleged extremist elements to reach the borders of the national elements.

The Central government, too, on its part has so far been able to keep unions from western Uttar Pradesh away from joining the ongoing protests.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a third term, the BJP can ill afford to lose Haryana and national capital. While the BJP had secured seven out of the ten Lok Sabha seats in 2014, the state had given all 10 seats to the saffron unit in 2019. And the BJP hopes to repeat its 100 per cent strike rate in Haryana and Delhi, which has seven seats.