CULTIVATING THE FARMER

IT'S ELECTORAL HARVEST TIME, AND BOTH BJP AND CONGRESS ARE OUT IN THE FIELD WITH A BUSHEL OF PROMISES. WHY IS THE FARM VOTE THE KEY DETERMINANT IN THE FOUR BIG STATES VOTING THIS MONTH?  

- Anilesh S. Mahajan

Going by what had been sowed last season in the bighas that make up Indian politics, one would have expected a full harvest of Mandal by now-waving in the fields, ready to be reaped in time for the voting. But one does not see caste as the main cash crop in the four big assembly elections this month. What else, then? If you missed all the party proclamations that scream it out, a set of visual clues came early in the morning on October 29, when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi could be spotted wading into waist-high paddies at Kathiya village, near Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur. Sickle in hand and farmhand-style safa around his head, he was immersed in a light-hearted lec-dem from labourers busy at the harvest. Happy, farm-fresh images were soon buzzing on his social media timelines. All that bucolic imagery and Chhattisgarhi charm spoke a truth that often tends to get overlooked: the biggest caste in India is still that of the farmer.