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Photos: Farmer suicides and drought prime concerns for rural Maharashtra voters

In Maharashtra, India’s richest state, the story of farmers taking their lives, leaving behind families saddled with debt procured at exorbitant rates of interest is a story is eerily repeated in many villages in Beed district, which sits a few hours’ drive from the financial capital Mumbai. A three-year drought has left many farmers with no income to pay back loans, with tragic consequences: Beed reportedly has the state’s highest rate of farmer suicides. The deaths, exacerbated by a lack of job opportunities, may pose a challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attempt to repeat his party’s performance in Maharashtra. In 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s coalition won 42 of 48 seats.

Updated on: Apr 22, 2019 11:16 PM IST

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1/11

Farmland near the village of Khardewadi is seen in an aerial photograph taken in Beed district, Maharashtra. A three-year drought has left some farmers with no income to pay back loans, with tragic consequences: Beed reportedly has the state’s highest rate of farmer suicides. As many as 12,602 farmers and agricultural labourers in India committed suicide in 2015, according to the last available data before the government stopped releasing figures. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

Updated on Apr 22, 2019 11:16 PM

Farmland near the village of Khardewadi is seen in an aerial photograph taken in Beed district, Maharashtra. A three-year drought has left some farmers with no income to pay back loans, with tragic consequences: Beed reportedly has the state’s highest rate of farmer suicides. As many as 12,602 farmers and agricultural labourers in India committed suicide in 2015, according to the last available data before the government stopped releasing figures. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

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People attend a National Congress Party rally in Beed. Large-scale farmer protests have popped up across India, with a contingent from Beed joining more than 50,000 who marched to New Delhi last November. Mumbai has also seen thousands of farmers from Maharashtra jam up roads over the past few years to protest the Modi government’s farm policies. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

Updated on Apr 22, 2019 11:16 PM

People attend a National Congress Party rally in Beed. Large-scale farmer protests have popped up across India, with a contingent from Beed joining more than 50,000 who marched to New Delhi last November. Mumbai has also seen thousands of farmers from Maharashtra jam up roads over the past few years to protest the Modi government’s farm policies. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

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Water is pumped from the Bendsura reservoir to a tanker in Beed district. Rising cost of fertilizers combined with depressed crop prices have left farmers with less money for living expenses and consumer goods across Asia’s third-largest economy. In an already arid eastern Maharashtra, a seemingly endless drought has led to rising indebtedness and crop failures. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

Updated on Apr 22, 2019 11:16 PM

Water is pumped from the Bendsura reservoir to a tanker in Beed district. Rising cost of fertilizers combined with depressed crop prices have left farmers with less money for living expenses and consumer goods across Asia’s third-largest economy. In an already arid eastern Maharashtra, a seemingly endless drought has led to rising indebtedness and crop failures. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

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Boys run towards an empty water tank standing on farmland near the village of Khardewadi. Modi’s BJP had earlier pledged to make Maharashtra drought free this year. The project called Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyaan accelerated the building of dams, ponds and tanks to store water. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

Updated on Apr 22, 2019 11:16 PM

Boys run towards an empty water tank standing on farmland near the village of Khardewadi. Modi’s BJP had earlier pledged to make Maharashtra drought free this year. The project called Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyaan accelerated the building of dams, ponds and tanks to store water. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

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Despite the project many remain dry, prompting residents to seek alternatives. Bhaskar Sukhwasi, 60, helps run one of six diesel generators used to pump water into tankers from one of the few remaining reservoirs in Beed, which are then delivered to 57 villages in the district. He is supposed to be paid 150 rupees a day but says he hasn’t received wages for months. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

Updated on Apr 22, 2019 11:16 PM

Despite the project many remain dry, prompting residents to seek alternatives. Bhaskar Sukhwasi, 60, helps run one of six diesel generators used to pump water into tankers from one of the few remaining reservoirs in Beed, which are then delivered to 57 villages in the district. He is supposed to be paid 150 rupees a day but says he hasn’t received wages for months. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

6/11

A water vessel sits on farmland near the village of Khardewadi. Farmer deaths, exacerbated by a lack of job opportunities, may pose a challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attempt to repeat his party’s performance in Maharashtra. In 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s coalition won 42 of 48 seats, one of the largest number up for grabs in any state. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

Updated on Apr 22, 2019 11:16 PM

A water vessel sits on farmland near the village of Khardewadi. Farmer deaths, exacerbated by a lack of job opportunities, may pose a challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attempt to repeat his party’s performance in Maharashtra. In 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s coalition won 42 of 48 seats, one of the largest number up for grabs in any state. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

7/11

A goat herder walks livestock through the village of Sawantwadi in Beed district. While Modi appears set to win another five-year term with a reduced majority when votes are counted on May 23, farmers remain a wild card. Maharashtra, along with neighbouring Telangana and Karnataka, accounted for half of the deaths among India’s 29 states in 2015. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

Updated on Apr 22, 2019 11:16 PM

A goat herder walks livestock through the village of Sawantwadi in Beed district. While Modi appears set to win another five-year term with a reduced majority when votes are counted on May 23, farmers remain a wild card. Maharashtra, along with neighbouring Telangana and Karnataka, accounted for half of the deaths among India’s 29 states in 2015. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

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A pedestrian walks past a BJP election campaign hoarding featuring Narendra Modi in Beed. The main opposition Congress party is appealing to those feeling left behind under Modi. “We have an anger index that calculates a voter’s disillusionment against the current regime,” said Praveen Chakravarty, head of Congress’s data analytics department. “The index in January suggested that Maharashtra is the angriest state in India.” (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

Updated on Apr 22, 2019 11:16 PM

A pedestrian walks past a BJP election campaign hoarding featuring Narendra Modi in Beed. The main opposition Congress party is appealing to those feeling left behind under Modi. “We have an anger index that calculates a voter’s disillusionment against the current regime,” said Praveen Chakravarty, head of Congress’s data analytics department. “The index in January suggested that Maharashtra is the angriest state in India.” (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

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Cows are displayed at a cattle market in Beed. In Beed, which may have been derived from the Persian word “Bhir” meaning water, the BJP may be facing a close fight. Moreshwarnath Sagale voted for BJP in 2014, but planned to vote for a local ally of the Congress when the district voted on Thursday. He blamed Modi for rising joblessness and the plight of farmers. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

Updated on Apr 22, 2019 11:16 PM

Cows are displayed at a cattle market in Beed. In Beed, which may have been derived from the Persian word “Bhir” meaning water, the BJP may be facing a close fight. Moreshwarnath Sagale voted for BJP in 2014, but planned to vote for a local ally of the Congress when the district voted on Thursday. He blamed Modi for rising joblessness and the plight of farmers. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

10/11

A man drinks water at a cattle market in Beed. “There are two narratives tugging at voters, not only in Maharashtra but all of India,” said Sudha Pai, a political science professor at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. “One is that of lack of jobs and the agrarian crisis. And the other is the sentimental pull of identity and national security.” (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

Updated on Apr 22, 2019 11:16 PM

A man drinks water at a cattle market in Beed. “There are two narratives tugging at voters, not only in Maharashtra but all of India,” said Sudha Pai, a political science professor at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. “One is that of lack of jobs and the agrarian crisis. And the other is the sentimental pull of identity and national security.” (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

11/11

A woman cleans utensils outside her house in the village of Sawantwadi in Beed. In Beed though, the top issue is clear for residents like 23-year-old Reshma Sawant. Her husband killed himself, unable to pay debt borrowed at about 5% a month, leaving her with a daughter and 300,000 rupees of debt. “I will vote for someone who helps me, provides me with a house and a job,” Sawant said. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

Updated on Apr 22, 2019 11:16 PM

A woman cleans utensils outside her house in the village of Sawantwadi in Beed. In Beed though, the top issue is clear for residents like 23-year-old Reshma Sawant. Her husband killed himself, unable to pay debt borrowed at about 5% a month, leaving her with a daughter and 300,000 rupees of debt. “I will vote for someone who helps me, provides me with a house and a job,” Sawant said. (Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg)

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