Accusing the NDA government of not honouring the promises it had made to the farmers during their over a year-long agitation on the Delhi-UP borders, the leaders of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella organisation of farmers, on Saturday, threatened to launch another agitation if their demands were not fulfilled forthwith.
Addressing a mahapanchayat ;of the farmers here, the Morcha leader and Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesman Rakesh Tikait asked the farmers to be 'ready' for another agitation.
"The government had given us written assurance that it had accepted our demands but none of the demands has been fulfilled....the government has backtracked on its promises," Tikait said at the gathering in which farmers from different parts of the state, especially the eastern UP districts, took part.
"There is a conspiracy to gran our lands on the pretext of construction of airports. The farmers are not being paid adequate compensation for their acquired lands," the BKU leader said.
He said that the government had promised to provide free electricity to the farmers but it was now getting electric meters installed at the homes of the farmers.
Tikait also exhorted the farmers to learn to drive both tractors and use Twitter. "Time has come for us to learn both. We must apprise the people about the anti-farmer policies of the government," he added.
Though the farmer leaders had threatened to march to the Raj Bhavan, they later shelved the program. He, however, asked the farmers to hold demonstrations before the offices of the police chiefs of the districts where the farmers were prevented from attending the mahapanchayat.