More than 20 farmer unions of Punjab on Saturday formed the Samyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM) to contest all the 117 seats in the upcoming State Assembly elections.
These unions were earlier a part of the 32 that came together under the banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which forced the government to repeal the farm laws by laying siege to the national Capital.
The buzz is that the newly formed morcha may align with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, although this has been denied for the moment.
The SKM, which had agitated for farmers’ rights, was an umbrella body of different groups. The issue of Assembly elections had figured even during the agitation at Delhi’s borders, but the groups from Punjab were divided; at least nine unions out of 32 had opposed the move, constraining the SKM to declare authoritatively that farmers will not contest the Punjab polls.
Announcing the formation of the political forum, Harmeet Singh Kadian, leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Kadian) group, said: "When we returned, there was pressure... if we could win that farm law battle, we can win the election as well."
"Earlier, it was a morcha or a movement. It was not a political party because people from different ideologies had come together on the same platform to seek repeal of the farm laws... Had we decided to contest polls we would have declared a symbol," he said.
Farmer leader BS Rajewal, who heads the BKU (Rajewal) group, said: "We have been pressured to fight polls... we will speak to like-minded people who are well-wishers of Punjab."
"First, we have to strengthen our front at the village level... Aam log (the common people) will be part of the Samyukt Samaj Morcha," he said, as he played down talk of the new outfit having any truck with the Aam Aadmi Party. "No negotiation is on... this is only media speculation," he said.
The 22 farmer unions' decision to enter electoral politics has been questioned by the BKU (Ekta Ugraharan), which is one of the more influential farmer unions in Punjab.
"Reacting to the decision of some farmers' organisations in Punjab to contest the elections, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) believes they should focus on the struggle to achieve demands of farmers instead of getting involved in votes and politics," the group tweeted in Punjabi.
It is possible more such political fronts of farmers may be formed in the days to come.
