Keen to revive its kinship with the community of farmers, the Kerala Congress (M) is looking to galvanise the seething anger in the embattled agriculture sector of Kerala into political action.
The regional party, a key ally of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), is slated to organise a mega event of farmers in Kottayam on March 17 to discuss the challenges faced by the community and chalk out an action plan. The event will be preceded by a State-level meet of the Kerala Karshaka Union (M), the farmers’ outfit of the party, at Thodupuzha on March 10 and 11.
A decision to organise the events were taken in a meeting of the party’s State secretariat in Kottayam on Thursday. The event, according to the leadership, seeks to bring together all farmers irrespective of their political affiliations.
Addressing the meeting, party chairman Jose K. Mani squarely blamed the policies adopted by the Union government for the current crisis in the State’s farming sector. “The natural rubber sector in Kerala is staring at its biggest crisis as the Union government is constantly attempting to shut down the Rubber Board. This is also due to its double standards in the import of natural rubber. The issue of forest buffer zones too has created serious concerns among farmers. The menace of wild animals, climate change and so on have exacerbated this crisis,” he said.
Mr. Mani also accused the Centre of sabotaging the rights of the minorities and highlighted the cuts brought in the allocation for minorities in the Union Budget 2023-24. “While the previous Budget allotted ₹5,020 crore for scholarships under various ministries, this has been brought down to ₹3,097 crore this time,” he added.
Observers, however, regard these events as an attempt by the KC(M), which has ostensibly espoused pro-farmer politics, to dig itself out of the hole created due to apathy of the LDF government in resuscitating the ailing sector. The party, which had earlier raised demands to increase the stabilisation price of rubber to ₹250 per kg without success, appears to have been caught in a political bind over the issue.
“Notwithstanding the gains it has made at the organisational level, the party remains wary of a growing disaffection towards it over issues such as buffer zone and K-Rail which could be a dry tinder for a massive political setback in Central Travancore,” noted a senior Kerala Congress leader.
