CPR-TCPD (TRIVEDI CENTRE FOR POLITICAL DATA, ASHOKA UNIVERSITY) DIALOGUES ON INDIAN POLITICS
ELECTION STUDIES POLITICS

Watch the full video (above) of the fifth discussion in the series on the rise of farmers movements in India, featuring Mekhala Krishnamurthy, Harish Damodaran and V M Singh.

As we approach the 2019 general elections, Rural and Agricultural distress is an issue which is likely to dominate the election discourse. Over the last few years, India has seen a significant increase in farmers movements, best exemplified by the ‘Kisan Long March’ which signified the emergence of a new moment in Indian agricultural politics. Election season is therefore likely to see many promises being made to farmers as a response to this new mobilisation.

The talk seeks to unpack the reason behind the emergence of these new farmers movements and understand the nature of the current rural political economy and its likely impact on the elections next year.

Mekhala Krishnamurthy is Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Ashoka University.

Harish Damodaran is National Editor (Rural Affairs and Agriculture) at The Indian Express.

V M Singh is a Supreme Court lawyer and President of the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Party.

The question and answer session that followed can be accessed here.

About the CPR-TCPD Dialogues

This was the fifth event in the CPR-TCPD Dialogues on Indian Politics series, launched in a partnership between Centre for Policy Research and Trivedi Centre for Political Data (TPCD) at Ashoka University. This is a monthly event that brings together academicians, policy and political practitioners, and civil society actors to grapple with important social and political issues in India. It provides a forum for intellectually rigorous, non-partisan commentary to strengthen public discourse on politics in India. In these polarised times, debates on politics in India have tended to be increasingly noisy, blurring the lines between critical engagement and partisan endorsement. This dialogue series is an effort to carve out a space for critical, nuanced engagement to understand the changing dynamics of Indian political parties, the impact of new and emerging social movements and the use of new instruments of mobilisation in our polity.