Self-Serving Guardians Formation and Strategy of the Bhartiya Kisan Union

The character of kisan movements since the late 1970s has been a matter of considerable debate. This paper, focusing on the social and political context of the farmer's movement in general and on the orientation, strategy and class base of BKU in particular, attempts to offer a corrective to the commonly held-view that such movements reflect new levels of politicisation among the middle peasantry and to the impression created by BKU's ideological strategy that it is capable of transcending rural class distinctions.