At kisan mahapanchayat in Delhi, call for nationwide protest against BJP

The ‘sankalp patra’ or letter of resolution adopted at the mahapanchayat by the SKM called for protests against the BJP across the country, under the banner of a “united peoples’ movement” against the “corporate, communal, dictatorial regime”, as well as observing March 23 as “save democracy from the threat of money and muscle power day” in all villages to protest the BJP having fielded Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni from Lakhimpur Kheri for the Lok Sabha polls.

In October 2021, four farmers were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri after a convoy of three SUVs, including one owned by Teni, hit a group of people protesting against the now-repealed Centre’s farm laws. Mishra’s son, Ashish, was allegedly driving one of the SUVs.

‘MSP, loan waiver demands unaddressed’

At the mahapanchayat, farmers pointed out that their reasons for protesting in 2020-21 had not been addressed yet, with a Minimum Support Price (MSP) guarantee and loan waiver for farmers yet to be ensured.

Addressing the gathering, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said, “Governments will try to break the Samkyukta Morcha, be mindful… when the agitation happens, they will say it is an agitation of a particular state or a particular community. With the agitations in the past, what has happened? Desh me Sikh samaj ko badnaam karne ki badi sajish chali hui hain… when there is an agitation, everybody should be together.”

He added: “Whichever governments take decisions against farmers, we will continue our protest against them, no matter which party that is. Our agitation will continue.”

Farmers from different parts of the country, including Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, UP and West Bengal, attended the mahapanchayat, having arrived in Delhi in trains, buses, and their own vehicles.

Daljeet Singh, a farmer from Moga in Punjab, said he had arrived with others in their vehicle on Thursday morning and would return soon after the mahapanchayat. “We are here to ask for a legal guarantee of MSP, and that the loans of farmers be waived off. The barricades that were put up to keep us out of Delhi last month were a bad move… we were there for so long earlier, at Singhu and Tikri, but we have not caused any loss,” he said.

Naveen Tyagi, from Hapur in UP, who is part of the BKU, also said a key issue was that of prices for crops. “Crops like maize sell at rates that are far below the minimum prices fixed. Farmers also need to pay large amounts as electricity bills,” he said.
Kuljeet Singh, from Barnala in Punjab, reiterated that the demands raised during the farmers’ protest of 2020-21 are yet to be met. “The demand for a guaranteed MSP for crops should be met,” he said.

Devender Singh, a farmer from Sonipat associated with the All India Krishak Khet Majdoor Sangathan, said, “In addition to loan waivers for farmers, we also demand that farm workers should be ensured work all year round.”