The Hindu : National/Elections 2004 : Tea crisis is campaign focus

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 04, 2004

National

National - Elections 2004

Tea crisis is campaign focus

D. Radhakrishnan
UDHAGAMANDALAM

The tea crisis is set to dominate campaigning for the 2004 Lok Sabha election in the picturesque Nilgiris district. While national and State issues will also figure in the polls, the prolonged crisis in the tea industry and the long-standing demand of the Badagas (a backward class) for inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribes will take centre stage.

The fight here is between M. Master Mathan of the BJP and R. Prabhu of the Congress. Though the small tea growers in the Nilgiris have come to realise that the tea crisis had been brought about by a combination of factors including changes at the global level, a large number of growers and workers continue to refer to the promise made by Mr. Mathan during the last elections when he promised he would get the tea planting community a better deal from the Centre. But to the credit of Mr. Mathan, they point out that he had managed to get a subsidy (rupees two per kilo of green leaf) from the Government, which had significantly helped the growers. Meanwhile his opponent Mr. Prabhu, who has represented Nilgiris four times, has earned a reputation for standing by the tea growers through thick and thin. He has consistently blamed the BJP's economic policies for the current woes of the small tea growers.

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