Mulayam coldshoulders Ajit, okays Tikait demand

‘‘Yeh aapki jeet hain. Ab humein panchayat ki zaroorat nahin (This is your victory. Now we don’t need to hold the panchayat),’’ said Tikait after the DM’s announcement.

A total sum of Rs 300 crore is due for payment to cane growers, and the RLD chief had been raising the issue with the CM for quite some time now. And Mulayam’s decision came at a time when there has been talk of Singh’s cosying up to the Congress.

Political observers here said the CM’s decision would deal a major blow to the RLD chief. Singh had held a farmers’ meeting in Faizabad only recently where he warned the state government of dire consequences if the dues of the cane growers were not cleared soon.

‘‘The CM is being misled by his own officers on the cane growers issue. There are a number of private sugar mills in the state which, despite earning profits, are not clearing pending dues of cane growers. I will be meeting the CM soon on the issue,’’ said Singh on Saturday. It is said that he met the CM later but Mulayam remained non-committal on the issue.

‘‘The CM heard us out patiently and assured us that our demands will be taken care of. An hour later, he sent the DM to make the announcement,’’ said Tikait.