Gujarat Farmer Relief: AAP accused of ‘Propaganda’ and ‘Creating Noise’ as State Government conducts crop damage surveys

In Gujarat, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders are holding daily press conferences, blaming the state government for ignoring farmers’ problems. They are asking why the relief package hasn’t been announced yet and are demanding quick results.

Poet Dushyant Kumar once said “सिर्फ हंगामा खड़ा करना मेरा मकसद नहीं, मेरी कोशिश है कि ये सूरत बदलनी चाहिए।” which trabslates to “creating chaos is not my goal, but to change things for the better“. Looking at AAP’s politics in Gujarat today, it seems the party’s goal is only to create noise. Instead of working for real outcomes.

AAP’s mixed history in Gujarat

Over the years, AAP has tried hard to gain a place in Gujarat politics. In the 2022 Assembly elections, the party made a big push but could win only five seats. Even those victories were more about individual candidates than the party’s strength. After that, the organisation has hardly been active. It has not made much impact in local or national polls. Now, with only two years left for the next Assembly election, the party seems to be trying again with a slightly changed strategy.

AAP seems to be running politics based on community targets. The Patidar community has always played a strong role in Gujarat’s elections. Farmers, too, are an influential group. Recently, AAP raised a big issue of “kad-da pratha” in the Botad APMC and organised what it called a “Kisan Mahapanchayat.” The event turned violent, and some AAP leaders ended up in jail. Many people who joined the protest are now seeking bail. Even when unseasonal rains hit Gujarat, the party turned it into another opportunity to target the government.

More focus on politics than solutions

AAP leaders often project themselves as the protectors of farmers, but they rarely talk about real solutions. Their actions clearly show that the goal is to turn farmers’ issues into political points. The reality of these problems and finding long-term answers don’t seem to interest them much.

The government’s ongoing survey on crop damage

At the end of October, several parts of Gujarat were hit by unseasonal rain and cyclone effects. Many farmers suffered heavy crop losses. Such situations have occurred before, and previous governments also took the necessary steps each time, since it’s the government’s duty to do so.

નવસારીમાં 384 ગામોમાં કમોસમી વરસાદના કારણે પાકના નુકસાનીના સર્વેની કામગીરી પૂર્ણ

ગામના સરપંચ અને ખેડૂત આગેવાનો સાથે મળીને 138 ટીમોએ સર્વેની કામગીરી કરી@CMOGuj @InfoGujarat #AIRPics અશોક પટેલ pic.twitter.com/QAFzmXTmN5

— AIR News Gujarat (@airnews_abad) November 3, 2025

After such events, the process of paying compensation to farmers begins only after surveys are done. These surveys take time because Gujarat has 34 districts and thousands of villages. It’s not something that can be done overnight.

Right now, the survey is happening across the state. Ministers are visiting affected areas. Even Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has personally gone to some villages to review the damage. The government has said that once the survey and reports are complete, it will announce a relief package for farmers without delay.

જુનાગઢ જિલ્લાના માળિયા તાલુકાના પાણીદ્રા ગામની મુલાકાત લઈને અણધાર્યા કમોસમી વરસાદને લીધે ખેડૂતોના ઉભા પાકને થયેલા નુકસાનની જાણકારી લીધી.

ગ્રામજનો અને ખેડૂતો સાથે વાતચીત કરીને સમગ્ર પરિસ્થિતિનો તાગ મેળવ્યો.

રાજ્ય સરકાર ધરતીપુત્રોને નુકસાનીમાંથી ઝડપભેર પૂર્વવત કરવાની પ્રતિબદ્ધતા… pic.twitter.com/A6eEN8w1wS

— Bhupendra Patel (@Bhupendrapbjp) November 3, 2025

The state government has ordered surveys across all districts. Ministers in charge of each district are supervising them. Officials are visiting villages, working with sarpanchs and local leaders to assess the losses. Once all reports reach the government, the cabinet will decide the relief amount and how to deliver it to farmers.  

AAP’s propaganda and misinformation

Meanwhile, AAP continues to hold press meets every day. They twist facts to show that the government is idle. They claim that without AAP’s pressure, farmers’ voices would go unheard. But even before AAP came into existence in Gujarat, surveys and relief packages were regularly done after crop loss.

AAP keeps demanding instant relief. But if the government had declared a package without a survey, these same leaders would have accused it of acting carelessly without understanding the ground reality.

AAP MLA from Visavadar, Gopal Italia, recently said that industrialists’ loans worth 16 lakh crore rupees were forgiven without surveys, but for farmers, surveys are required. The fact, however, is that these loans were not waived off; they were only written off. That means banks do not expect early repayment and remove the amount from profit-loss calculations. They can still recover the money through legal steps. The Finance Minister’s statement in Parliament had made this clear, but Gopal Italia left out that part since it didn’t suit his story.

AAP supporters and YouTube content creators recently tried another trick. When Gandevi MLA and minister Naresh Patel visited a damaged field, he said, “The crops smell so bad,” showing sympathy toward the farmers’ pain. But some self-proclaimed journalists cut the video, twisted it, and circulated it as if the minister was insulting farmers. Gopal Italia then made another video on the same, and AAP propaganda pages spread it widely.

The pattern is clear

All this clearly shows that AAP is trying hard to prove that it alone cares for farmers and that others are indifferent. In reality, the government is still in the middle of the survey process, which naturally takes time. AAP leaders, with little other work at hand, are simply busy holding press conferences and making noise.

It won’t be surprising if, on the day the government announces the relief package, the same leaders rush to take the credit. You can almost be sure of that.

(This report was originally written in Gujarati. Click this link to read it.)