-The Hindu Business Line The BJP faces its toughest battle in Rajasthan, where rural agrarian distress is more acute than elsewhere It has been a long summer for Anirudh Meena. The farmer from Kota in Rajasthan is still waiting for the government to financially compensate his brother Hukumchand Meena’s family. A garlic farmer, Humukchand took his life in May, after the price of the bulb came crashing down, leading to heavy financial...

-The Telegraph There is something heroic about tens of thousands of farmers marching and wringing concessions from a BJP state government The farmers’ rally in Delhi, the Kisan Mukti March, organised by the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) happened the day after the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and just before the assembly elections in Rajasthan. The politics of the rally was different from the politics of elections but the...

-CNBCTV18.com * The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee mobilised a farmers’ movement in a year. * The trigger was a June 2017 farmers’ agitation in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh, where six people died in the midst of violence and police shootings. * In 12 months, the AIKSCC has managed to drive the convergence of farmer groups, including those representing marginalised farmers (women, adivasis and Dalits), apart from the introduction of two Bills. “Farmer...

-Newsclick.in Unbridled exploitation of workers under the supervision of BJP governments has led to widespread anger and discontent, which is likely to be reflected in the Assembly polls. While Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are gearing up for Assembly elections, the two BJP-ruled states have also been at the forefront of actively overseeing the worsening  condition of industrial workers. Besides administering meagre rates of minimum wage, the two states have introduced a slew of...

-Newsclick.in A combination of fund squeeze and political aversion has deprived lakhs of people from getting MGNREGS work, even though wages are very low. As the job crisis rages unabated across the country, demand for work under the rural jobs guarantee programme (MGNREGS – Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) has risen dramatically in the past few years. In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the two big states where polling for Assembly...