Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will address an open session during the national conference of the CPM-backed All India Agricultural Workers’ Union (AIAWU) in Howrah on Friday.

CPM sources said Vijayan in his address is likely to highlight the achievements of his government in Kerala’s agrarian sector, something that the CPM would seek to use to counter Trinamul in the panchayat polls.

“The work done by Comrade Vijayan’s government is proof that the demands we make on behalf of the farmers and agricultural workers are not superficial. His government has shown that it is possible to provide benefits to agricultural workers,” said Amiya Patra, the AIAWU’s state secretary.

“The Kerala government’s achievements corroborate our claims that the Left is the only alternative,” he added.

The AIAWU state unit wants the Bengal government to mandate a minimum wage of Rs 600 a day for agricultural workers.

However, Patra said agricultural workers in Bengal earn not more than Rs 282 a day whereas in Kerala they earn Rs 750 per day.

Kerala offers Rs 2,900 for every quintal of paddy as minimum support price, Patra said, adding the MSP in Bengal was a little over Rs 1,900. Though the Bengal government officially raised MSP on paddy to Rs 2,040 in the current fiscal, a part of it was devoured by corrupt middlemen, Patra said.

“Our fight is against deprivation suffered by agricultural workers. Kerala has proven that demands can be met. We are talking about the Kerala model in our rallies. But if Comrade Vijayan speaks about it, the impact will be different,” Patra said.

Of the 71.23 lakh farmers in Bengal, 96 per cent are small and medium farmers. The average size of land-holding in Bengal is only 0.77 hectares.

The AIAWU Bengal unit was set up in the 2016-17 fiscal. It is the first time that its national conference is being held in Bengal. The last was held in January 2020 in Kerala’s Kunnur, where Vijayan addressed a session.