Rajnath Singh a ‘caged parrot’ in Modi govt, says BKU chief Naresh Tikait

LUCKNOW: The leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Naresh Tikait on Wednesday said if Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is given a free hand, the farmers’ issue would be resolved in a minute.

This is Singh as a ‘caged parrot’ in the Modi government.

Expanding the base of the protest which had so far been relegated only to western UP, to the eastern and central region of the state, BKU held a Kisan Mahapanchayat at Barabanki, just 40 km away from Lucknow, on Wednesday.

“I guarantee that the impasse will end in a minute if Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is given a free hand to hold talks with us. But this government is rigid and obstinate. It has made him a ‘caged parrot’. The government should change its attitude and listen to the voices of agitating farmers to repeal new farm
laws,” Tikait said in his address to the farmers.

Claiming that Barabanki was the gateway to Purvanchal (east UP), Tikait said it was important to make the farmers of central and eastern UP aware of the shortcomings of the new farm laws. The BKU president announced that the union would hold Kisan Mahapanchayats across eastern UP to unite farmers and continue their stir till the three farm laws were repealed. “If the government is not willing to withdraw these laws, then we will also continue our agitation,” he declared.

Tikait claimed that Union Minister Dr Sanjeev Balyane was also feeling suffocated in the Modi government and unable to express his feelings he has for the agitating farmers. “We voted for the BJP government but now the same government is not with us. Instead, they are out to ruin us,” he fumed.

If this government continued in power, then farmers would be left with no choice but to sell their lands. “Farmers are not getting MSP. Prices of electricity, diesel and petrol are spiralling. In such a situation, our survival is at stake. The government must change its attitude and withdraw the new laws,” he said.