Agriculture remains the primary source of livelihood for most of Jharkhand’s population. Farmers, who are the backbone of the State’s economy, were the focus of the promises and policies made by two alliances, i.e. the INDIA coalition and the NDA. The INDIA alliance’s decisive victory in the State has sparked much debates on voting patterns and the factors of influence.
The Lokniti-CSDS survey sought to gauge farmers’ opinions on agriculture welfare schemes and their influence on vote choice.
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State policies primarily targeting farming households garnered greater satisfaction among full-time farmers, with over half the voters (55%) leaning towards the INDIA alliance, compared to one-third (29%) supporting the NDA. Similarly, among part-time farmers, nearly four in 10 (42%) strongly support the INDIA alliance, thus maintaining its lead but with a narrower margin of 4% (Table 1).
The welfare aspect
The data reveal a clear trend where beneficiaries of major agricultural schemes favoured the INDIA coalition over the NDA even in the case of central schemes. It suggests no direct link between welfare scheme benefits and voting preferences.
Central government schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN) were availed of by one-third of the voters (36%)/ On the other hand, 26% and 17% were the beneficiaries of other notable central government schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PM-FBY) and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana (PM-KMY), respectively, but a greater proportion among them voted for the INDIA coalition.
Interestingly, even in the case of State government schemes, the INDIA coalition enjoys nearly equal support from beneficiaries (24%) of the Jharkhand Krishi Rin Mafi Yojana and from beneficiaries (14%) of the Jharkhand Rajya Fasal Rahat Yojana (Table 2).
A significant portion of both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries remain inclined toward the INDIA coalition, reflecting the limited relevance of the schemes in terms of their impact on farmers’ voting behaviour in the State.
Kirti Sharma and Krishangi Sinha are researchers at Lokniti-CSDS
Published – November 26, 2024 01:30 am IST