Maharashtra polls: Mahayuti rides on bountiful rain to woo farmers | Mumbai news

PUNE: After a prolonged dry spell last year, Maharashtra received an impressive 126% average rainfall in 2024, thereby managing to recover from the drought of 2023-24 that severely impacted the farming community. In a season of poll politics, the ruling Mahayuti sees this as an opportunity to highlight the state’s agricultural revival, against the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA)’s spiel that farm distress continues to remain a critical issue.

Last year’s drought caused widespread crop failures, leading to rise in farmer suicides and left many in financial turmoil. In 2024, Maharashtra experienced its best rainfall since 2019, and a parallel upsurge in food grain production. (See box). This year’s healthy monsoon is expected to improve the yields of key monsoon-dependent crops like cotton, soybean and sugarcane.

Mahayuti leaders are having a field day in promoting the narrative of agricultural recovery and demonstrating tangible improvements in the sector.

On Wednesday, while touring Jat – a drought-prone area in Sangli – to kick off BJP candidate Gopichand Padalkar’s campaign, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, pointed out how the state had allocated substantial funds for irrigation projects. “We have sanctioned ₹8,072 crore for the Krishna-Koyna Lift Irrigation Scheme and ₹2,000 crore for the Mhaisal project. Our goal is to eliminate drought in 64 villages of Jat taluka once and for all,” said Fadnavis, emphasising that rainfed farming would soon replace irrigation farming in these areas.

While presenting the Mahayuti’s report card in Mumbai last month, chief minister Eknath Shinde claimed the administration had delivered more progress than the previous MVA government. Fadnavis, who was with the CM, highlighted several farmer-friendly initiatives, such as free electricity, and 145 irrigation projects that were approved, resulting in 22.73 lakh hectares of land being made tillable. “We are also providing solar pumps to every farmer, at 10% of the coast of installation. With this scheme they will be exempt from electricity bills for the next 25 years,” he said.

Last week, BJP leader Shrikant Bhartiya expressed confidence in the central government’s decisions of removing Minimum Export Price for onions, tax reductions on onion exports, and approving the proposal to procure soybeans at MSP, which will win over the farming community. “These measures will address issues of onion, soybean and sugarcane farmers. We are also committed to providing daytime electricity to farmers. This will help us in the assembly elections,” Bhartiya said.

The opposition MVA however continues to argue that farm distress persists, and that despite good rainfall, farmers continue to face rising production costs, stagnant crop prices, and significant losses due to unseasonal rains. Leaders have also highlighted the issue of delayed crop insurance pay outs and the high rate of farmers suicides – issues, they argue, cannot be solved simply by a good monsoon.

Recently, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP of being “the biggest enemy of Maharashtra’s farmers”. In a post on X, Kharge criticized BJP’s handling of the agricultural crisis in the state, pointing to the rising number of farmer suicides and alleging that the party’s promises had failed to materialize.

Raju Shetti, leader of the Swabhimani Shetkari Saghtana and former MP, criticised Mahayuti leaders, claiming that the government has failed to implement MSP effectively for crops like soybean. “Farmers in Maharashtra are selling soybean at ₹4,000 per quintal, far below the MSP of ₹4,800 per quintal,” Shetti said. “A good monsoon alone cannot solve all the problems of farmers. Mahayuti leaders are unaware challenges farmers face.”

Ahead of the elections, the Congress launched its campaign, criticizing the Mahayuti government’s handling of farmers’ issues. Ramesh Chennithala, Congress in-charge for Maharashtra, unveiled an advertisement titled Injustice to Farmers – Ata Chalnar Nahi, accusing the government of failing to compensate crop losses and ensuring fair MSP. Chennithala also mocked Mahayuti’s flagship irrigation initiative, Jalyukt Shivar, dubbing it “Jalmukt Shivar.”

“The farmer community is upset with the ruling government. This campaign will help the MVA channel public anger against the government’s anti-farmer policies,” Chennithala said.

As Maharashtra heads to the polls in two weeks, the question remains – will a bountiful monsoon sway voters in the Mahayuti’s favour or will the MVA’s narrative of persistent farm distress prove to be more persuasive.