Bharatiya Kisan Union Head Rakesh Tikait Warns Government, Hints At joining Farmers' Protest
Declaring his support for the ongoing farmers” protest, Rakesh Tikait, a key figure of the 2020-21 farmers” protest against the central government, said that there are several farmers” unions with different issues in the country. “If the government creates a problem for farmers marching to Delhi, we are not far from them. We are in support of them,” the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) head Tikait said. Mr Tikait was one of the key figures in the 2020-21 protest against the introduction of new farm laws, which led to the government recognising the farmers” demands by scrapping all three farm laws it passed.
The farmers are now protesting demanding a legal guarantee of a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the crops they produce. In addition, the farmer”s other demands include full debt waiver for farmers, pension for farmers, the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission”s formula, and the withdrawal of cases against farmers who participated in the 2020 protest.
With Mr Tikait declaring his support for the new farmers” protest, it is learned that the government might face more challenges as it strives to suppress the protest ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha election. To prevent the protesting farmers from entering the national capital, the government has placed barricades, and iron nails, and the deployment of heavy police forces. The police today fired tear gas shells at the protesters at the Shambhu border, causing a major traffic block in the Delhi-NCR region.
Earlier, there were reports about the absence of the Rakesh Tikait and the Bharatiya Kisan Union in the ongoing farmers” protest. However, with Mr Tikait issuing warning that they are not far from the farmers, signalling his potential joining in the protest, the protest is likely to gain more strength.
It is also important to note that the BKU was founded by the former prime minister Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh whom the government recently honoured by announcing Bharat Ratna posthumously noting his dedication to the farmers’ cause.
However, the current head of the BKU Mr Tikait has urged the government to solve the farmers” issue by conducting discussions with the farmers.
