Be ready for a movement, Tikait tells farmers
At ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ panchayat, BKU leader accuses the BJP government of not fulfilling its poll promise to provide free electricity to farmers
MEERUT Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday targeted the BJP government and exhorted farmers to be united and be ready for a movement, if they wanted to protect their lives and land.
He accused the government of not fulfilling its poll promise to provide free electricity to farmers besides raising the issue of rising power tariff and erratic supply in villages.
Tikait was addressing the first ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ panchayat in Bitawda village in Muzaffarnagar’s Budhana area on Tuesday on the call of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, which has planned a series of similar panchayats in the region in days to come.
A huge crowd gathered at the panchayat, where Tikait also raised questions over the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in defence services.
The BKU leader alleged that the BJP government had exploited farmers and also raised the issue of non-payment of cane dues by sugar mills. “The mills are not making payment of dues, which has worsened the financial condition of farmers,” said Tikait who threatened to dump sugarcane at the office of district magistrate in the coming crushing season and receive payment from there.
Tikait said farmers, poor and labourers were going through a tough time. “They have multiple problems, which need to be addressed but the government is ignorant towards them,” he added.
BKU’s Budhana tehsil president Anuj Baliyan and block president Sanjeev Panwar also described the BJP government “anti-farmer” and advocated for the unity of farmers, poor and labourers to fight against “anti-people policies of the government.”