Facing anti-incumbency and the spectre of a formidable Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) combine in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking to reap a rich electoral harvest of ‘PM Kisan’, the flagship minimum income guarantee scheme for small and marginal farmers.
So far, more than 10 million UP farmers have already received the first installment of Rs 2,000 in their bank accounts, totalling over Rs 2,000 crore in payouts.
Together with PM Kisan dole and the earlier UP crop loan waiver scheme worth Rs 36,000 crore, the