DURING the BJP government’s rule of over two decades, the crisis in fertilisers and seeds has become a chronic issue. Clearly, this exploitation of farmers would not be possible without collusion between black marketeers and bureaucracy under the BJP government’s political patronage. Farmers are facing a double whammy this time: on the one hand, a delayed monsoon has created drought-like conditions in the state; on the other, the BJP state government refuses to acknowledge that the state is heading towards a drought crisis alongside the shortage of fertilisers and seeds.

According to the Meteorological Department, more than 30 districts in the state have received 25% to 78% less rainfall. Consequently, sowing for the Kharif crop has reached only 30% of the target. Even where sowing has taken place, the lack of rain is causing cracks to appear in the fields, and crops are withering. Meanwhile, the fertiliser crisis has assumed alarming proportions. Long queues have formed outside fertiliser distribution centres. Farmers want DAP fertiliser but are being forced to buy NPK fertiliser instead. The token system is compounding the farmers’ woes; first, they struggle to obtain a token, and even if they secure one, they often have to collect urea from one centre and NPK from another — sometimes separated by a distance of 50 kilometers or more.

The issue is not merely the existence of a fertiliser and seed crisis; the real problem is the BJP government’s refusal to acknowledge it. The monsoon session of the Legislative Assembly was convened from July 20 to July 25. Although only five sittings were scheduled, the Assembly was adjourned on the third day itself. Even in this instance, the BJP government did not refrain from resorting to falsehoods. Dismissing data from the Meteorological Department, the government stated that there are no drought-like conditions in the state. Presenting figures in the Assembly, the government claimed that while the target for Kharif crop sowing was 105 lakh hectares, actual sowing had covered 116 lakh hectares. Regarding the fertiliser crisis, the state government blamed the opposition, asserting that it had made adequate arrangements and that farmers were receiving fertiliser on time. However, farmers complain that server outages are frequent, making it impossible to even register for tokens; furthermore, the government appears blind to the long queues of farmers waiting for fertiliser.

Even the state’s main opposition party, the Congress, is unwilling to do anything beyond paying lip service to this crisis. A by-election is underway for the Datia assembly seat, where the focus is entirely on the moves of Narottam Mishra. Both the BJP and the Congress are attempting to balance social equations by courting leaders from various castes and sub-castes. Issues such as the shortage of fertiliser and seeds, or the exploitative practices of power companies, are not even part of the discourse. While the BJP is playing the game of caste arithmetic to divert attention from these matters, the issues are conspicuously absent from the Congress campaign as well. In the words of Modi-ji, this crisis creates an “opportunity in disaster” for black marketeers. Consequently, the trade in spurious fertilisers and seeds flourishes. The administration and black marketeers collude to line their pockets, while farmers are not merely fleeced; they face ruin after incurring high costs because the crops either fail to germinate or do not bear fruit.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) called for a 24-hour hunger strike on July 16 to protest against this crisis. The hunger strike began at 12:00 PM on July 16 and continued until 12:00 PM on July 17. State Secretary Jaswinder Singh observed the hunger strike in Bhopal. Members of the State Secretariat — Comrades Badal Saroj (Gadarwara), Ramvilas Goswami (Gwalior), Akhilesh Yadav (Anuppur), Ashok Tiwari (Sabalgarh), and Kailash Limbodia (Indore)—also undertook the 24-hour strike. Ramnarayan Kurariya, another member of the State Secretariat, observed a fast in Jabalpur on July 17 alongside other comrades in support of the same demands. Nina Sharma was present in Bhopal. The hunger strikes across various units were conducted as follows: In Morena district, 24-hour hunger strikes were held in Sabalgarh, Kailaras, and Morena, while a demonstration and submission of a memorandum took place in Joura. In Gwalior, a 24-hour hunger strike was held at the grain market, and demonstrations followed by the submission of demand charters to the SDM took place in the Dabra and Bhitarwar tehsils. A 24-hour hunger strike was observed at the Gohad tehsil headquarters in Bhind district. The hunger strike in Bhopal took place at Neelam Park, while the one in Narsinghpur was held at the Gadarwara tehsil headquarters. In Rewa district, 24-hour hunger strikes were held at three locations: Rewa, Tarhar, and Semariya. Activists from the Rampur Baghelan tehsil of Satna district also participated in the hunger strike held in Rewa. Party activists observed a 24-hour hunger strike at the Jaisinghnagar tehsil headquarters in Shahdol district. The hunger strike for Anuppur district took place at the district headquarters. In Indore, the administration revoked permission to set up a tent at the district headquarters at the last minute; nevertheless, activists observed the24-hour hunger strike while enduring the scorching heat. A 24-hourhunger strike was observed in the Bajna tehsil of Ratlam district. As previously noted, day-long fasts were also held in Jabalpur on July 17 and in Seoni on July 16. The hunger strike concluded on July 17 following the submission of a memorandum to the administration and a demand for the resolution of the issues. A warning was also issued that the agitation would be intensified if the issues remained unresolved. Public meetings were held to mark the conclusion of the event. State committee members Murari Lal Dhakad, Prem Narayan Mahaur, JagdishPatel, Buddhasen Singh Gond, Om Prakash Batham, Arun Chauhan, Ramesh Rathore, Kantilal Ninama, Jitendra Arya, Tej Kumar Tigga, Deepak Paswan, M K Jaiswal, P V Ramchandran, and Ajay Tiwari participated in this action. The protest in Seoni was led by District Secretary Anil Sallam.