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Abstract
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) is an integral part of the story of ‘new’ farmers’ movements and agrarian populism in India. This paper seeks to situate the BKU in the larger debates on agrarian movements in India, and then illustrate the cultural and ideological mechanisms used by the BKU to mobilize and propagate. At the outset, the paper attempts to delineate a working definition of a ‘new’ farmers’ movement, and what sets it apart from other agrarian movements. This is done through a discussion of the history, structure and composition of agrarian movements in India. Along with a discussion on the genesis of the BKU, the paper also seeks to highlight the political economic determinants behind such a movement, along with the role of the state as well as the trajectory of developmental modernity in post-colonial India. A large section of the paper is devoted to the traditional, cultural and ideological strategies employed by the BKU to mobilize a heterogeneous support base to form a populist movement. The paper concludes with a section on the wane of the BKU in the ‘90s and the shortcomings of populist movements in the Indian agrarian context.