Farmers vow to make BJP's lotus wither in Uttar Pradesh, Centre

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Saturday launched ‘Mission Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand’ at the massive ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’

Eight years after the communal riots scarred the region, farmers turned up in full strength in this sugarcane belt of western Uttar Pradesh vowing to oust the BJP governments from the state as well as the Centre.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), spearheading the farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws at the doorsteps of Delhi, on Saturday launched ‘Mission Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand’ at the massive ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ at Muzaffarnagar with protests in every district of the two states.

The SKM also gave a call for a nationwide strike on September 27 to protest against the three farm laws that the farmers’ claim would benefit only big businesses.

Read more: 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' in Muzaffarnagar an 'election meeting': BJP

Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait, who has emerged as the face of the nine-month farmers’ agitation, accused the BJP of creating a divide between the Jat and Muslim communities in western Uttar Pradesh after the communal riots of 2013 and claimed that eight-year-old wounds have now healed.

“The slogans of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and Allahu Akbar were raised together earlier and will continue to be raised together in the future,” Tikait, the younger son of prominent farmers’ leader Mahendra Singh Tikait said addressing the massive rally.

Tikait accused the Modi government of putting India on sale by rolling out plans to privatise roads, airports and seaports – a move that could affect livelihoods across the country.

“India is on sale, and that is a reality,” he said.

The five-hour rally saw farmer leaders from across the country address the gathering, with every leader urging them to punish the Modi and Yogi governments for ignoring the farmers’ demands.

“The huge turnout here is a signal that you are set to repeat the West Bengal formula in Uttar Pradesh,” Balbir Singh Rajewal, a leader of the BKU faction from Punjab said.

Activist Medha Patkar said farmers should declare that they will not vote for Modi and Yogi for ignoring the demand for rollback of the three farm laws.

“Votebandi (say no to votes) is the only answer for notebandi (noteban) imposed by Modi on the nation,” Patkar said.

Making an emotional pitch, Tikait said he had taken a vow to return home from the protest site at Ghazipur border in the national capital only after the success of the agitation.

“I have come here directly from the Ghazipur border. I will return there after the mahapanchayat. I will not step inside my house in the city till the success of the agitation,” Tikait said.