The Samyukta Kisan Morcha Wednesday said it has no relation with the two farm organisations that contested the elections in Punjab and accused them of using its name. It also threatened to initiate disciplinary action against those who participate in the events organised by the two organisations — Samyukta Samaj Morcha (SSM) and Samyukta Sangharsh Party (SSP) led by Balbir Singh Rajewal and Gurnam Singh Chaduni, respectively. This comes two days after representatives of the two farmers’ political front had barged into SKM review meeting in Delhi. In a statement, SKM said, “We were very astonished to see that these leaders have done the ridiculous act of dissolving the coordination committee of the morcha and declaring themselves as Samyukta Kisan Morcha by issuing a statement in the name of Balbir Singh Rajewal from Chandigarh. The statement also referred to the convening of a national meeting of the morcha at Lakhimpur Kheri on March 21, while the SKM has decided to observe a nationwide day of protest on this day.” The statement has been issued by SKM’s seven-member committee comprising Dr Darshan Pal, Hannan Mollah, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Shivkumar Sharma, Yudhveer Singh and Yogendra Yadav. Reiterating that there was no division in the morcha, SKM said it had no relation with SSM and SSP. “We still appeal to them to desist from any such act which threatens this historical unity of the farmers. We would like to warn all the farm organizations that any organization or leader who participates in the Lakhimpur Kheri meet on March 21 will be subject to disciplinary action,” SKM added. In a sign of widening rift between farmers’ groups, Rajewal, who lost election from Samrala, announced the dissolution of nine-member coordination committee and called for a national meeting of the morcha at Lakhimpur Kheri on March 21. The constituents of the new farmers’ political front were decimated in the Punjab polls with 93 out of its 94 candidates losing their security deposits. In its review meeting held at Singhu border on January 15, SKM had decided that those unions/organisations that were contesting elections will no longer be a part of SKM. It had added that the decision would be reviewed in April after Punjab elections. SKM said that it had called a meeting of representatives of all organisations at Gandhi Peace Foundation in Delhi on March 14 to decide the manner of reviewing the decision and upcoming program of the morcha.
