Farmers Movement Archive

Noida: Will fight 2022 UP assembly elections if demand not met, say farmers at Chilla border

Leaders of some of the farmers, who have been protesting at the borders Delhi shares with Noida and Ghaziabad against the three new farm laws, said Friday that if the government does not accept their demands, they will contest the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh in 2022.“We have been on protest for two weeks now but the government is not taking note of our grievances. We have a lot of supporters in Uttar Pradesh. In the last four decades several governments came and went. I was also offered a ministerial position by some governments but being apolitical, I refused. We have already formed a political outfit – Kisan Kranti Dal. We will contest the UP assembly elections in 2022 if our demands are not addressed,” said Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)-Bhanu president Thakur Bhanu Pratap.Thakur Yogesh Pratap, the BKU-Bhanu’s UP president, held a five-day hunger strike (Sunday-Thursday) against the farm laws at Chilla border.“I ended my hunger strike on Thursday after consultations with BKU members and office bearers. We found that some farmers died at the Singhu border while a Sikh leader, Baba Ram Singh, committed suicide. But the government did not take any notice of farmers’ plight. The government is callous and it does not matter to them if one fasts or dies,” he said.Farmers have been protesting at the Chilla border and the Dalit Prerna Sthal since December 1 against the three new farm laws. The protest has blocked the Noida-Delhi road at the Chilla border and vehicles bound for the national Capital have been diverted to the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) Flyway and Kalindi Kunj routes.Yogesh said that some farmers from Western UP were trying to reach Noida but they have been detained at different places, to weaken the farmers’ protest. The farmers have blocked the Noida-Delhi road at Chilla border in protest.Meanwhile, BKU Lokshakti members on Friday protested at the Dalit Prerna Sthal by performing mock suicide acts as a symbolic demonstration of the plight of farmers. Master Shyoraj Singh, BKU-Lok Shakti president, said that this is a difficult fight for the farmers. “The government has placed its entire machinery and ministers against the farmers. But they have nothing to convince the farmers. Let’s see who wins this battle,” he said.

Hindustan Times

18-12-2020

Noida