Ahead of the previous poll in Punjab, what was the Left ecosystem writing about Punjab farm scene?

That farmers are angry with the exploitative system of arthiyas & are looking at AAP's manifesto with hope.

There are some gems in this piece which shall be excerpted in a thread.

Commission agents in mandis had fattened themselves so well that they double up as moneylenders for farmers.

What do they do?

Take farmers' thumb impressions on blank papers.

Take signed blank cheques from farmers.

This is what Congress, Akalis & Left ecosystem support today.

Then, the agent forced the farmer to sell only through him

When the farmer tried to withdraw his own money, voila, the agent had already gobbled up the money using blank cheques!

When the farmer asked, the agent said he'd only give enough money for the next farm cycle!

These agents precipitated a debt crisis in Punjab that correlates with thousands of farmer suicides in the last few years

Politically connected agents have a vice like grip over the lives of farmers and no party speaks out against them

See why both Cong & Akalis came together?

Interest these agents charge is as high as 25%!

An agent paid a farmer in cash & took some signatures. Farmer went home thinking it was for his produce. A few months later, agent asks the farmer to repay the 'loan'.

Farmers are totally at the mercy of Cong-Akali backed agents.

Agents maintain account books in a coded language. They translate it arbitrarily & claim whatever they want after getting farmer signatures.

Farmers' own money is converted into a 'loan'.

This money then funds certain parties. This system is being broken by Modi's farm reforms.

Both Congress and Akalis back these commission agents who make money from trapping farmers in a debt trap.

No wonder there is a cross party consensus.

This piece says there was tremendous pressure from farmers to help them bypass middlemen, which Modi govt just did!