More than the Congress, it is the two crops — opium and orange — which are likely to challenge Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in her constituency, Jhalrapatan in Rajasthan. The farmers of these cash crops said their demand for more licences to cultivate opium and compensating their losses in orange farming due to hailstorm and drought in the last two years went unheard by her government.

The area was famous for opium cultivation. At least 10-50 farmers each from more than 1000 villages in the constituency had narcotic licences to cultivate opium. Farmers said only 100 people have licences at the moment and after a number of protests, the process to give 800 more licences has started.

“We have two problems. Earlier the Narcotics Department used to provide licence to grow opium in one bigha (0.40 acre) of land. They have reduced it to half bigha. Also, they stopped issuing new licences and the price that the government offers is very low,” said Deepchand Prajapati, a farmer who has half bigha of opium cultivation.

Farmers get ₹1,000 for a kilo opium and in half bigha, the licence is to cultivate seven kilos and 200 grams of opium.

According to farmers, the risks and the efforts involved in opium farming are much higher than the usual crops and the remuneration should also be in tune with the hard work.

Farmers understand that in the black market, it costs ₹50,000 a kilo. “We are all legal farmers and we must get at least ₹10,000 per kilo,” Prajapati, who had a licence for one bigha till 2005, added.

Nirbhay Singh of Kharpa Kalan is another villager who had a licence.

“Opium cultivation helped us to overcome loans and fund our children’s education. I don’t have a licence now. I have requested the District Collector to renew our licences,” Singh said and added the BJP is doing nothing to help them.

Orange cultivators

For farmers who cultivate oranges, it is a different story. Ishwar Singh, Nirbhay Singh’s neighbour has 2,500 plants. In 2015, he suffered 100 per cent loss due to hailstorms. “I ran from the post to pillar for compensation. I didn’t get a single rupee,” Singh said.

About 50 per cent of farmers in the locality have planted oranges. Man Singh and his nephew Bajrang Singh jointly cultivate oranges near Singhania village using new methods of farming.

“Orange is the best cash crop in the area. Price is guaranteed and demand is abundant,” Bajrang Singh told BusinessLine. He added that fixing a minimum support price (MSP) for the crop will be beneficial.

“Vasundhara Raje’s policies for farmers are good. But its implementation has created issues. She should learn from Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan,” he said. The area is close to Madhya Pradesh border of the State.

The Congress is trying to make the most of farmers’ distress. Raghunath Singh, senior Congress leader from the district said, “I also cultivate both oranges and opium. The situation in the last five years has turned bad for farmers. The MSP is the biggest issue.” He said a combination of farmers, minorities and Dalits will defeat Vasundhara Raje in these Assembly polls. The constituency has more than 30 per cent Muslims.

The Congress is facing internal issues as the candidate Manvendra Singh does not belong to the area. The BJP dismissed all such theories. “We understand the problems of the farmers. That is why we have restarted issuing licence to cultivate opium. Majority of the farmers who cultivate oranges were compensated for their losses. At many places, the Chief Minister herself distributed the checks,” said BJP district president Sanjay Jain Tau.

He is sure that minorities and Dalits will continue to stand with Raje. “The Congress is in deep crisis. We will improve our margin to one lakh,” Jain said. She had won with a majority of more than 60,000 votes in 2013.

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