Gujarat scare may sow seeds of farm-focused policy in Budget

NEW DELHI: The BJP s victory in the Gujarat elections tough-fought because it was points honestly to the feasible path of the Budget that finance minister Arun Jaitley will present in February. Given its setbacks in non-urban regions the large attention of the ruling party could be on agriculture and the agricultural economic system other than a likely enhance in minimum aid fees (MSP). FM Arun Jaitley instructed ET the effects in a handful of Gujarat districts highlighted farmers issues that the authorities will analyse and deal with . He said higher spending on rural India and agriculture isn t populism. Spending greater is a need as a ways as rural India is concerned. The FM said the victories in Gujarat and Himachal contemplated public approval of GST. Post-GST I think this became very critical due to the fact there was no location higher than Gujaratto check it because it s a exchange centre he stated. And I suppose most of the important trading centres of Gujarat we've got won. Traders and business people were very kind to us... They voted for us. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling the end result a win for reforms and development over the poison of caste-ism the ones subject matters can also be sustained through upcoming country polls to 2019 s preferred elections. Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh stated the authorities will accentuate farmer welfare schemes and make sure their powerful implementation in addition to the charge of MSP. Our projects to double farmer earnings and growth manufacturing will gain more speed he instructed ET. Some states aren't doing enough for procurement and giving help costs. The Centre will hold placing pressure that farmers have to get MSP. The February Budget could be the closing full-fledged one to be able to be presented by FM Jaitley earlier than the next election and is probable to be inspired with the aid of that fact. This may also suggest a reset of the financial consolidation road map to give the government extra spending room within the subsequent financial. The government is forging ahead with measures to increase farmer profits including foremost initiatives in dairy development bee preserving bloodless chains and food processing agriculture minister Singh stated. He agreed that rural India became distressed however stated regulations of the past seven a long time had been accountable. He insisted that farmers had backed the BJP in Gujarat. Farmers guide us otherwise we wouldn t have won. There is an eight percent factor distinction within the vote proportion (between BJP and Congress) he stated. A senior government official stated disaffection in rural regions was the most effective key worry for the BJP that retained power with a lower wide variety of seats in Gujarat. Initiatives such as growing the unfold of irrigation doubling farmers incomes by 2022 and higher MSP for farm produce might be intensified he said. Farm modernisation is important to enhancing agricultural earning said Niti Aayog vicechairman Rajiv Kumar. It means that going ahead we need radical and urgent steps in agriculture to double farmers income he said. This can take place most effective if they emerge as a part of whole fee chain and don t remain restricted as manufacturers of commodities. We at the Niti Aayog are that specialize in it and running extensively toward replicating and scaling successful practices on this regard. With the modernisation of agriculture and its transformation to high-fee merchandise MSPs should nicely become inconsequential over time. That is a surer way to addressing farmers misery. Mohini Mohan Mishra secretary of the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh that's affiliated with the Sangh Parivar said the vote reflected the ire of Gujarat s farmers. There became anger amongst Gujarat farmers as they didn t get exact prices in the kharif crop or maybe compensation at some point of the destructive monsoon he advised ET. In 2018 the government will need to deliver worthwhile fee to farmers in phrases of MSP. It may also have to enhance the procurement system with authorities to make sure it buys farmers crops. BJP workers shared that situation. It was no longer PAAS (Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti) but kapaas (cotton) stated one senior party leader seemingly debunking the notion that caste equations performed a role and declaring that it turned into in large part the state s cotton growers who had voted towards the party. Patel chief Hardik Patel s PAAS changed into allied with the Congress. Another top government respectable stated rural incomes had suffered. Rural farmers have now not got money for their produce considering commodity charges have long gone down he said. Globally agriculture charges are down... Government ought to do something for the farmer community now as they've suffered... We will need to see what they could do for this area. HDFC Bank chief economist Abheek Barua said Increase in MSP better allocations for MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme) PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana) loan waivers in states may want to dominate the economic coverage landscape going ahead if the agricultural Gujarat election consequences are taken as consultant. GST and demonetisation didn t have any impact on the vote he delivered. (With inputs from Ruchika Chitravanshi) New Delhi: HighlightsBJP received 6th straight time period in Gujarat however received sixteen fewer seats than 2012 Shah aimed for 150 seats to decimate Congress on BJP home turf got ninety nine Says Congress reduced level of campaign and performed caste politics Celebrating the BJP s freshly-minted historic victory in Gujarat Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP leader Amit Shah on Monday accused the Congress for trying to sow the seeds of casteism in its starvation for power and requested citizens to be vigilant of renewed attempt through a few human beings to maintain up the effort in destiny too.Mr Shah also explained the drop inside the BJP s seats -- the celebration had a hundred and fifteen seats in 2012 had targeted winning 150 this time however ended up with only 99 seats -- to what he referred to as the caste politics and the low level of political discourse of the Congress and its allies.The BJP president who had set a goal of prevailing 150 seats in Gujarat claimed he had not accounted for the Congress sinking the extent of the discourse to one of these low degree. Congress introduced the extent of the marketing campaign down due to which our variety of seats went down the BJP president who is widely visible because the party s chief strategist said at a press convention as the celebration received each Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicates the victory sign after the BJP gained the Gujarat assembly elections 2017Like other BJP leaders Mr Shah changed into similarly dismissive of the Congress tries to project the BJP s smaller victory margin in terms of range of seats in Gujarat as a moral victory for the Congress for giving the BJP a hard fight inside the home turf of PM Modi-Amit Shah team.An average victory margin of 8 in keeping with cent is not a difficult fight Mr Shah stated.The twin verdicts are a defeat of the politics of dynasty casteism and appeasement and a win for his birthday party s politics of performance he stated adding that Indian democracy become coming into a brand new generation.The usa s improvement adventure had taken greater steps with these wins he stated pointing that 14 states could have BJP governments in addition five greater that had been held in partnership with its allies.PM Modi additionally again to his plank of development and pitched for social concord in his domestic nation which had seen several caste agitations inside the run as much as the assembly polls pronouncing that the humans have to forget about the beyond and embrace every other.An ecosystem for development have been created after the BJP took strength at the centre in May 2014 he said adding that no person should derail it as his decisive authorities turned into working time beyond regulation to strengthen cooperative federalism and had easy intentions. NEW DELHI: Even as Patidar chief Hardik Patel on the day of counting of votes reiterated doubts on digital vote casting machines (EVMs) reliability Election Commission claimed no mismatch become mentioned whilst votes in select constituencies were tallied with paper path of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines. There has been no discrepancy reported from any booth as in line with initial records. It is quite not likely there might be any file otherwise a exceptionally positioned EC reputable informed ET. The healthy among EVM result and VVPAT count number was considered important to setting to relaxation doubts raised by way of politicians regarding the reliability of EVMs and safety. After figuring out to apply VVPATS in all polling stations in Gujarat and HImachal Pradesh that is the first time EC held a obligatory count of VVPAT paper trail throughout all constituencies. Polling stations have been chosen randomly by using a draw of masses officers said. EC had determined to that tally votes with paper path in one polling station of every constituency in Gujarat and two each in Himachal Pradesh. While Patel raised doubts on hacking via Twitter on Sunday on Monday he alleged the machines were tampered with in Ahmedabad and Surat to make certain BJP won. Refuting those allegations officials at EC stated all important safety protocols were followed to make certain elections were conducted fairly. While EC reportedly obtained 44 complaints of EVMs being related to Bluetooth during polling in Porbander Surat Ahmedabad and Vadodra it stated all were investigated and found to be wrong . Even breakdown stages of malfunctioning (particularly due to damage throughout transportation and uncharged batteries) turned into low at zero.5-zero.7% within the first phase or even lower in phase II an reputable stated. Our EVMs are very reliable and EC has already commissioned greater advanced EVMs with a purpose to be brought in 2018. Results in both states have proven that the EVM controversy needs to be positioned to rest a former election commissioner requesting anonymity told ET. Call it the movement of the younger the courageous and the aspirational. Like each movement it has a face. But this one has three Hardik Patel Jignesh Mevani and Alpesh Thakor every one in every of them forty or under each a counterfoil to Indian politicians who fade away in preference to retire. Each constitute a separate that means but collectively carry a experience of daring and hope.It is they who symbolise a fear for the Bharatiya Janata Party even in its triumph in Gujarat. They constitute a sliver of wish for the Congress in the end it is for a change on the proper facet of demography. Indeed the triumvirate of Hardik Mevani and Thakor created a narrative that the Congress adopted as its very own to mount a mission to the BJP. Had those three younger guys no longer descended on Gujarat the BJP simply would possibly have repeated its 2012 Assembly electoral performance.Two of these three guys contested the elections Jignesh and Mevani gained. Hardik a callow 24 did now not enter the fray. He continues to be months away from achieving the minimum age required to contest in elections whether or not Assembly or Parliament. Yet it's miles he who sounded the bugle of rebel in opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi openly hard him and his achievements while few dared to talk out.But the importance of Hardik Jignesh and Alpesh isn t restricted to Gujarat. Their impact is all-India. They constitute a yearning some of the young to construct an India in their goals. It is obvious from the protests in several universities the many elections the BJP s student wing the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad has lost.The ABVP couldn t part out the Left from the Jawaharlal Nehru University. It misplaced the pinnacle posts of president and vice-president in Delhi University. It drew a clean in Hyderabad Central University which had been agog over the suicide of Rohith Vemula for nearly a 12 months. In Rajasthan University in addition to the Punjab University the ABVP may want to handiest win the location of joint secretary.There has been a declare that the ABVP loses in the ones universities which can be traditionally Left frequently dubbed anti-country wide for his or her radical rhetoric. But this descriptor doesn t apply to universities in Rajasthan and Punjab as it doesn t to Varanasi s Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth where too the ABVP https://www.referralkey.com/?myprofile=1 misplaced. The ABVP became vanquished in Central University Gujarat and the Allahabad University. It encountered losses even in Assam s Gauhati University a state in which erstwhile scholar leaders have turned to the BJP at the same time as they age.File photo of Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani. News18The upward push of Gujarat s triumvirate and losses in university elections ought to fear Modi and the BJP. After all in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections Modi s most avid supporters had been the young. His bid for the prime minister s process commenced with a rousing speech at Delhi s Sri Ram College of Commerce. Modi seems to have misplaced out at the guide of at least the younger and the idealist.It is a fear for Modi due to the fact on 12 March after spearheading the BJP to an brilliant victory in Uttar Pradesh he said he saw symptoms that he could acquire his dream of constructing a New India through 2022. Modi cited of the signs and symptoms: A New India of the goals of its yuva shakti (teenagers strength) is taking area A new India that fulfils aspirations of its nari shakti (girls s strength) is taking location. But the signs we see round us seem to suggest an contrary fashion: The youngsters in India are getting increasingly conflicted about Modi s New India . For example Jawaharlal Nehru University has been in ferment over the concept of nationalism whether it must be Hindu and jingoistic in nature or represent spiritual pluralism. Or take the protests witnessed in advance this 12 months in Banaras Hindu University in which women college students clamoured for the elimination of gender discriminatory regulations imposed on them. The BJP became determined at the side opposed to college students inside the universities.Nationalism and gender aside caste is the third thing agitating the younger who seem more and more annoyed with the India that is evolving. We can examine this in an analysis of the character and rhetoric of Hardik Jignesh and Alpesh.Hardik grabbed the country wide headlines when he led the motion of the Patel network for inclusion within the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) list. Though no longer upper caste in jati fame the Patels have been excluded from the OBC class due to the fact they had been no longer deemed socially and educationally backward. Indeed they are no longer. But agrarian distress and the terrible fee of activity introduction have incited the Patels to demand reservation which has enabled those from social corporations lower to them to emerge as authorities officers.We can also disagree with Hardik s conceptual know-how of affirmative movement yet the Patel movement symbolises the growing tension a few of the young approximately their destiny. He has articulated the growing gap among aspirations and their eventual realisation. From this attitude Hardik represents the disappointment of the teens.File image of Patidar community chief Hardik Patel. News18It is popularly assumed that the state cares for the weak and mollifies the disgruntled. Yet whilst the Patels organised a rally to call for reservation they had been fired upon and beaten black and blue. Worse Hardik had sedition charges slapped on him. Ultimately the nation s highhandedness became Hardik towards the BJP articulated often within the rallies he had addressed during the election marketing campaign. He entreated the electorate to teach the BJP a lesson for becoming conceited and callously treating folks who had been the birthday party s mainstay for long. Hardik for this reason came to symbolize aspirations and frustrations of the younger and their rebellious streak.Jignesh is arguably the most cerebral of the three. He become pitchforked into the limelight after four Dalits had been flogged for skinning a dead cow in Una. Then a member of the Aam Aadmi Party he resigned after in search of the party s permission to guide a long march from Ahmedabad to Una last year. It changed into a protest against the atrocities committed on Dalits. But he widened the ambit of the movement with the aid of demanding land for his community in order that it could conquer its marginalisation.Jignesh symbolises the Dalit recognition that seeks social equality self-respect and financial rights. He didn t join the Congress however received its guide. His political choice represents the perception amongst a large segment of educated Dalits that Hindutva s essential intention is to co-opt Dalits and deny them political organisation. From this attitude Jignesh is the political voice to the emotions of harm that have been witnessed in Hyderabad Central University.Of the 3 the that means Alpesh indicates is the trickiest to comprehend. His upward push become predicated on his opposition to the Patidar call for for reservation. Thakor idea that an OBC status for Patels would suggest that this especially higher-off caste would gobble up a large chunk of reserved jobs. He was prepared to counter the Patels brinkmanship with his very own Kshatriya-Thakor Sena to start with hooked up to launch an anti-liquor campaign.Alpesh represents the suspicion among the OBCs that there's a surreptitious try and dilute reservation for them. He is a warning that the OBCs wouldn t tolerate the tinkering with the quota gadget to their detriment.The three younger leaders came collectively in spite of their pastimes being one of a kind. For instance both the Patels and OBCs are among the largest oppressors of Dalits. The pastimes of Patels and OBCs are at variance as of now on the difficulty of reservation. What binds them together is their competition to the BJP s growing vanity and their very own aspirations and frustrations.It is difficult to inform whether they will continue to be together now that the BJP will form the authorities in Gujarat. But in the event that they do they represent a opportunity of papering over the chasm between castes. Perhaps the beyond revel in of the Congress at ironing out differences among companies beneath its umbrella led to them coming collectively on one platform.The three leaders additionally represent the significance that caste has for the young. Hindutva hasn t been capable of subsume caste. Whether the three leaders can recalibrate caste dynamics flip its functioning greater democratic and collectively accommodating is the wish Hardik Jignesh and Alpesh preserve out. Three cheers to that! By Amulya Ganguli For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to have struggled to go the 100-seat mark in Gujarat when it was boasting approximately bagging 150 is suggestive of an plain downward turn in its reputation scores. Considering that it tried all the hints inside the e book consisting of several grimy ones to cross the winning line confirmed that the birthday party changed into uneasy about the final results from the begin even though Gujarat is Narendra Modi s domestic state and few might have typically predicted the locals to move decisively against a Gujarati Prime Minister. But the fact that the formerly unheralded Congress did moderately well by including to its 2012 tally of sixty one seats was a signal that for the first time in greater than many years the BJP changed into going through a undertaking. The increase within the number of seats received by way of the Congress and the autumn within the BJP s underlined the reality that however for the relentless marketing campaign undertaken by means of Modi and almost his complete cupboard the BJP could were hard positioned to win. Along with the intensity of the campaign with the Prime Minister concentrating so much on one state when he went only some instances to Himachal Pradesh which also went to the polls what became additionally noteworthy became the passion with which he latched directly to the Congress maverick Mani Shankar Aiyar s gaffe approximately calling Modi names to claim that any slur on the Prime Minister is an insult to Gujarat. Arguably neither Modi s claim of personally representing the country s asmita or pleasure nor his preposterous rate against his predecessor Manmohan Singh approximately conspiring with Pakistan had any significant impact at the attitude of the electorate. In all probability the outcome could were the same even in any other case. But what these exceptional outbursts together with the only about Aiyar having planned a supari operation to take away Modi showed turned into that the BJP had the scare of its existence during the elections. The nervousness may additionally were all the greater because the birthday celebration couldn't have predicted the Congress to position up a combat. Although the Grand Old Party (GOP) constantly had a forty consistent with cent vote proportion within the state there had in no way been any expectancies about its potentialities because of its moribund situation with rarely any organisational muscle or effective neighborhood leaders capable of drawing crowds. http://pressurecooker.wallinside.com/ However possibly to its own -- and sincerely to the BJP s surprise -- Rahul Gandhi s front made a dramatic distinction. For the first time because it went out of energy the Congress could seriously think about regaining it. Even if ultimately the HAJ issue made from Patidar leader Hardik Patel backward caste chief Alpesh Thakor and Dalit chief Jignesh Mewani did no longer make as plenty of an effect as become earlier concept it proved that it became possible to mobilise the disaffected elements inside the state against the reputedly all-powerful ruling birthday party. It can't be said for certain whether the Congress may be capable of sustain this mixture of ambitious first-timers in politics -- two of whom do now not belong to it -- for any duration of time particularly while the prize for which they got here collectively has eluded them. Besides the Congress does not have each person based totally within the kingdom who can keep them together with a focussed agenda. One cannot expect Rahul Gandhi to hold playing the function of a unifier once the battle drums are silenced. For the Congress therefore it is nearly again to rectangular one in Gujarat as the state has another time slipped out of its draw close and it will have to re-have interaction all another time in building the party s ground stage base. But the big takeaway though for the GOP is that first it has succeeded in giving the BJP a scare which no one might have thought feasible in 2014 or in advance while the Congress misplaced 4 meeting elections in a row; and secondly that the birthday party can now appearance ahead with massive confidence to subsequent yr s elections within the 3 BJP-dominated states of Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in which it can no longer be possible for Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to stave off the anti-incumbency aspect as well as they have got accomplished in Gujarat. For the BJP the realisation have to have dawned that the euphoria of 2014 is long gone. Modi might also nevertheless draw crowds but it's miles viable to give him the jitters. It is not going that both he or his birthday celebration will keep to make their arrogant claims approximately ushering in a Congress-mukt (unfastened) India to any extent further. It will even assist the party if the setback ends in a firming down of the haughtiness which has been its hallmark inside the last few years. NEW DELHI: NOTA (None of the Above) option got 2.5 instances extra votes than the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) within the 29 seats that the birthday celebration contested in Gujarat consistent with an election result evaluation via IANS. The NOTA is an option in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and by means of registering a vote beneath NOTA a voter can specific his/ her rejection of all candidates contesting the election from any given constituency. While the AAP were given a complete of 29 517 votes inside the 29 seats humans used NOTA 75 880 times in these seats. The birthday celebration got greater votes than NOTA in only one seat -- Katargam -- it contested. Here the AAP were given 4 one hundred thirty five votes even as human beings used the NOTA option 1 693 times. Also in 20 seats the birthday party were given votes in three digits and in sixteen of these it polled less than 500 votes. The lowest vote rely the party were given become 243 in Ankleshwar where humans went for the NOTA alternative 2 732 instances -- more than 10 instances the votes AAP were given inside the seat. Gujarat AAP spokesperson Harshil Nayak advised IANS that the foremost motives for the defeat in their candidates consist of party s past due selection to contest the elections and lack of the AAP imperative leadership throughout the campaign. There changed into confusion over whether to contest the election or no longer and we determined very overdue to fight the election which affected us Nayak stated. Ahmedabad: Nearly 2 consistent with cent of voters in Gujarat selected to workout the NOTA or None Of the Above choice - the ultimate button in an Electronic Voting Machine that enables on reject all the candidates in the fray. The percentage of citizens was extra than the votes acquired five of the seven parties contesting the meeting elections.Introduced in India in 2013 NOTA lets in voters to express their dis-pleasure with the candidates while workout their democratic rights. While the election gave a fith consecutive time period to the BJP which has been ruling the country for 22 years it additionally established that a piece of the electorate were now not satisfied with the applicants chosen to represent them.The elections were seen as a referendum on the two key initiatives of the Narendra Modi government - final year s demonetization and the government s flagship Goods and Services tax which was rolled out in advance this 12 months. The Congress had alleged that a huge section of voters mainly small traders have been unhappy with both measures.The polling percentage this 12 months were relatively less than 2012 - dropping from the 71.Three in keeping with cent to sixty eight.41 in keeping with cent in the elections that concluded on Thursday. The None of the Above choice were given greater votes than two country wide parties in the Gujarat Assembly elections whose consequences had been declared on Monday. Only the two primary gamers the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress and independent candidates were given extra votes than the NOTA alternative electorate use to show their disapproval for all applicants in their constituency.Over 5.52 lakh electorate in Gujarat selected the NOTA choice making up 1.8% of the whole votes. In comparison the Bahujan Samaj Party got 2.07 lakh votes and the Nationalist Congress Party 1.85 lakh votes.The NOTA vote be counted in Porbandar turned into an awful lot better than the triumphing margin itself. While the BJP s Babubhai Bokhriya were given 1 855 more votes than the Congress candidate as many as 3 433 voters opted for none of their applicants. In Chief Minister Vijay Rupani s Rajkot West constituency NOTA polled 3 309 votes. The quantity was four 255 in Vadgam where impartial candidate Jignesh Mevani won his first election.In Himachal Pradesh the option changed into now not utilized by as many citizens as in Gujarat. The today's matter (as of 7.48 pm) for NOTA within the hill kingdom became 33 741 less than 1% of the overall votes. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) which received one seat within the kingdom Assembly got 1.4% of the votes better than NOTA.