Affirming that the three agricultural laws were enacted without relying on the farmers, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and Lok Sabha MP from Nagaur in Rajasthan Hanuman Beniwal, says his fight will continue in favor of agitating the farmers. One day after leaving NDA, Beniwal spoke with Akhilesh Singh from TOI and said he resigned from NDA but will not join any other political alliance like Congress it has been its main rival. Excerpts:
He beat Nagaur as a candidate for the NDA. What made you give up the alliance?
When farm bills were discussed in Parliament, I could not participate because I was with Covid. The prime minister and the interior minister keep saying that NDA is a family, but no one told us about them. I repeatedly said that the three bills should have been passed with the consent of the farmers. In a meeting with Shah recently, I raised this issue, but nothing followed. I was left with no alternative but to leave the NDA. Let me clarify that I will not join Congress. The treatment of farmers hurts me. It was self-respect that forced me to leave the alliance.
So the BJP leaders couldn’t convince him?
Yes, I had a meeting with the Minister of the Interior Amit shah, who gave me the assurance to start a dialogue with the farmers and resolve their complaints. That did not happen. I traveled through 17 districts of Rajasthan and found that the farmers were angry. Soon BJP will be able to feel the anger of the farmers. Swaminathan CommissionThe report must be implemented and all three laws must be repealed. I have no other agenda. I will fight the panchayat elections only in Rajasthan.
There was not much opposition in Rajasthan to the three agricultural laws. So why this big step?
In Rajasthan, the BJP leaders of the farming community are far removed from the true cultivators of the land. The so-called peasant leaders in Congress are dead wood. They tried to organize the riots, but they fizzled out. I have solemnly declared that I am late Punjab and Haryana farmers.
What is your next course of action?
We will continue our relay sit-in at the Shahjahanpur border. Every day between 2,000 and 3,000 people will sit. Yesterday there were between 60,000 and 70,000 people here with us. The young people were very angry. We advise them and send them back for now. The government should be more sensitive. Yesterday we detained the young people because they wanted to go to Delhi and, if that had happened, the law and order situation would have been in crisis. But the government should take this as a final ultimatum and end the stalemate.
Is it possible to go back to the NDA?
I have said before that I am not going to Congress. I joined NDA at the insistence of Modi and Shah. This alliance was not easy for me as I had great differences with regional BJP leaders like Vasundhara Raje. Still, we joined the alliance and played a key role in securing Rajasthan’s 25 seats. I have not yet thought about whether we will return or not, but our fight now is for the farmers and we will continue our fight firmly.
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