Madhya Pradesh polls: Farm stress, poor finance cast a shadow over BJP

CM Chouhan might have checked farmer agitation through sops, but poor implementation has hit state's finance

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister (CM) Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will fight not only anti-incumbency but also farmer distress and the ill effects of a struggling economy as the state goes to polls on Wednesday.

According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, Madhya Pradesh’s (MP’s) gross state domestic product grew faster than the national average in 2016-17 (FY17) and 2017-18 (FY18); but for three years before that, it was lacklustre.

Agriculture is the primary occupation of the state’s residents, but this too is contracting, leading to farmer unrest.

Trouble at farms

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