Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Thursday said the protesting farmers will take the agitation to the poll-bound West Bengal if the Centre does not concur with their demands against the new farm laws.
Addressing a maha panchayat at Kharak Punia here, he said, “Crops prices are not increased, but fuel prices have gone up. If Centre ruins the situation, we will take our tractors to West Bengal as well. Farmers have not been getting minimum support price (MSP) there also. The Centre should not be under any misconception that farmers will go back for crop harvesting. If they insisted (cracking down the protest), then we will burn our crops. They should not think that protest will end in two months. We will harvest as well as protest.”
Elections for 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal are likely to take place in April-May this year.
Meanwhile, farmer unions demonstrated ‘rail roko’ agitation between 12 pm to 4pm in different parts of the country. After the tractor rally and ‘chakka jaam’, ‘rail roko’ has been the major protest by the farmers against the three farm laws. Tikait had said that ‘rail roko’ was done in a peaceful manner and food and refreshments were provided to people stranded due to the protest.
“I am going to a rally in Mumbai tomorrow. We will hold rallies all over the country. Farmers are suffering everywhere. The only way to get rid of the problems is to give legal backing to MSP,” he said.
He also stated that he will not join politics as he considers it ‘a big disease’. Farmers have been protesting at the different borders of the national capital since November last year, against the three newly enacted farm laws – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
