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Will go to voters of UP with 'defeat BJP' slogans, hope govt resolves MSP issue: Rakesh Tikait

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 11/26/2021 11:42:34 AM

Hyderabad, Nov 25 Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops was always our issue, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said on Thursday. Tikait has been overseeing the ongoing farmers' agitation at Delhi's Ghazipur border for over a year. Speaking in Hyderabad on Thursday, Rakesh Tikait said that the MSP will help farmers. He further appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that MSP was always the issue of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the union of nearly 40 farmers' outfits spearheading the agitation against the Centre's three farm laws. Rakesh Tikait said, "In each of the 11 rounds [of discussions with Centre], we discussed MSP. We are not going back on it. The government should implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission and initiate talks." "We will go to the voters of UP with defeat BJP slogan. It would be better if the Government of India and PM Modi resolve the issue before the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) kicks in," Tikait added. Tikait also said that BKU supporters "have no plan" to vacate the protest site at the Delhi border just yet. He also said that the SKM's strategy is to "defeat" the BJP. "We will ensure that they face a boycott in villages, are not able to campaign during the polls. This has already begun in western UP," he added. In a video address earlier this month, PM Modi announced the central government's decision to repeal the three farm laws. A Bill in this regard was approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday and will be tabled in Parliament during the upcoming Winter Session. The BKU leader also commented on AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi's recent public meetings in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. "Wherever the BJP loses, they [BJP] organize his [Owaisi's] meeting." Asked about where the SKM sees the agitation heading, Rakesh Tikait said on Thursday that the farmers' union will decide on a future course of action at its meeting on November 27. "We will organize a tractor march in Delhi on November 29 and another at the national capital's borders on November 30," Tikait added. CPI leader Atul Anjan, who was also part of the program in Hyderabad, alleged that Union Minister of State (Mos) Ajay Misra Teni "provoked" his son Ashish Misra. Referring to the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, Anjan said that the Union minister should be "sacked and arrested".