Farmers will oust BJP government if it doesn't repeal agri laws: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

GHAZIABAD: Farmers will oust the BJP government if it does not repeal the contentious agricultural laws and enacts a legislation guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for crops, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said here on Monday.

Tikait, the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, made the remarks as he held a meeting with the BKU's office-bearers from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh at the Ghazipur border here.

The meeting was held to formulate a strategy to intensify the farmers' agitation in these states to press their demand for the withdrawal of the three farm laws and the guarantee for MSP, according to a BKU statement.

"If the laws are not repealed and MSP not guaranteed, we shall force the BJP (government) to quit. We will reach out to farmers and expose the BJP. A government made by farmers cannot stay in power if it is anti-farmer," the statement in Hindi quoted Tikait as saying.

However, the influential BKU leader emphasised that the farmers are not against any political party.

"We are not against any party. We are only against any group which is opposed to the welfare of the farmers and labourers," he added.

In his meeting, Tikait held discussions on the BKU's press conferences scheduled for August 11 in Uttarakhand's Dehradun and Himachal Pradesh's Nahan, the farmer union's media in-charge Dharmendra Malik said.

The BKU will hold an event in Haryana's Mewat on August 26 and one in Yamuna Nagar on August 29, he said.

In September, a 'kisan panchayat' will be held in Muzaffarnagar, the BKU's headquarters in western Uttar Pradesh, he added.

Hundreds of farmers are encamped at Delhi's border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur since November 2020.

They have been demanding that the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee MSP for their crops.

The government, which has held 11 rounds of talks with the farmer leaders, has maintained the laws are pro-farmer and will usher in new technology in farming.