Rakesh Tikait said there are no plans for a meeting with Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata (Archive)
Ballia, Uttar Pradesh:
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said on Wednesday that he will go to Kolkata this week to urge farmers to defeat the BJP in the West Bengal Assembly elections, but claimed that he does not support any party. political.
Farmers are distraught and the election will be discussed with them, Rakesh Tikait said, adding that he will not go to West Bengal to seek votes.
“I will go to Calcutta on March 13. The wake-up call for a decisive fight will come from Calcutta. We will talk to the farmers there and urge them to defeat the BJP,” said the BKU leader. He was in Ballia to address a “Kisan Mahapanchayat”.
In response to a question on whether he would meet with West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Rakesh Tikait said there was no such program.
The peasant leader said that a call has already been made to defeat the BJP in the five elections to the Assembly scheduled to begin on March 27, but assured that he will not support any political party.
In addition to West Bengal, Assembly elections will be held in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The vote counting will take place on May 2.
Rakesh Tikait said that the farmers’ movement will continue and that he is ready to negotiate with the central government. “If the Indian government speaks, we will speak,” he added.
Responding to a question, the peasant leader said that he had no intention of participating in the elections.
Addressing another farmers’ meeting in Rasda in Jharkhand, Mr. Tikait said that a long battle will be fought and success will be achieved.
Earlier, at a “Kisan Mahapanchayat” in Sikandarpur, UP, some 20 miles from the district headquarters, the peasant leader launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government.
Without giving any names, he said that the “thieves” have to be expelled from Delhi.
In an apparent reference to the prime minister, he said: “He will prove himself the last emperor.”
Tikait said that he also belonged to Ayodhya and that he is also a descendant of Lord Rama. He stressed that it is not necessary to divide the peasant movement along regional lines.
Stating that political parties have also started organizing Kisan Panchayats, Rakesh Tikait said that 2021 will be the year of movement. The echo of the farmers’ movement in India is being heard around the world, he added.
Calling for intensifying the farmers’ struggle, which he said is a symbol of his self-esteem, Tikait warned that if farmers are defeated, workers and youth will also be defeated.
Emphasizing that the fight must be organized with full force, he asked the farmers to repair their tractors and carts and be prepared. He said the call to depart for Delhi could be made any day.
He also called for a boost to the movement in neighboring Bihar.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
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