Rakesh Tikait hints at country-wide protests, asks farmers to keep tractors ready

Tikait alleged that the Central government had made farmers “beggars by giving Rs 6000 rupees to them”. He said the country “will not be saved by political parties, but by a revolution. For this, there will be movement and revolution once again”.

Sawai Madhopur: Farmer leader and National spokesperson of Bharatiya Kisan Union, Rakesh Tikait, who was at the forefront of the farmers' agitation against the now-repealed farm laws has hinted at another countrywide stir if the farmers' demands are not met by the government.

Tikait while addressing a Kisan Mahapanchayat in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur told the farmers: “Everyone is ready for this. Keep your tractor trolleys ready. The timing and the venue of the movement will be shared in coming days”.

Over the Central government asking the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) to name its members for a committee to be set up for deciding the Minimum Support Price (MSP), Tikait said the Centre was not making the mandate of the proposed committee clear. “The names of two members are being sought by the Centre, but the government is not sharing details about the powers of the committees, what will be the tenure, how many members will be there, which farmer organizations will it belong to, who will be its chairman. Till the time the Government of India does not tell clearly, we will not give names,” he said.

Tikait alleged that the Central government had made farmers “beggars by giving Rs 6000 rupees to them”. He said the country “will not be saved by political parties, but by a revolution. For this, there will be movement and revolution once again”.

He said that “democracy has ended in the country, while Constitutional institutions have been illegally occupied. All three agricultural laws have been withdrawn only after the road protests got stronger. Tikait warned of intense protests in the coming days if the demands of the farmers are not met.

Farmer leader Rajaram Mile, who also spoke on the occasion, said that the country is “plunging below the poverty line”. “The central government says that nothing happened in the country in 70 years. But the central government has been only disposing of institutions and companies of the country formed in 70 years. Not a single company was formed in the country during the tenure of BJP's central government. The poor are being made poorer in the country,” Mile said.

He said that the BJP “used Pulwama (attack) to win elections”. “Elections are being won by Hindus-Muslim divide. Regional parties are getting stronger in the states.

This is not going to benefit the country. Only national parties can do good for the country. In such a situation, understand it and caste the vote at your own discretion,” added Mile.