Farmers Movement Archive

Inflict ‘vote ki chot’ on BJP, SKM urges poll-bound WB

BATHINDA: Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders kick-started their campaign against the BJP in West Bengal on Friday by invoking freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and urging the state’s farmers to deal a “vote ki chot” (vote blow) to the saffron party in the upcoming assembly elections so that the Centre is forced to heed the demand of farm groups protesting at Delhi borders for repeal of the three contentious farm laws. A letter by a “farmer of India” addressed to Bengal farmers was sent to all the 294 assembly constituencies of West Bengal through “Kisan doots”. The SKM leaders claimed that if farmers and people of the state “punished anti-farmer BJP”, it (party) would learn a lesson and “lose its ego”. Farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said, “Various sectors in the country are being taken over by corporates as BJP is ensuring smooth transfer of public sector to private sector. We have decided to campaign against BJP in poll-bound states and have come to West Bengal to oppose the party. We neither have candidates in these elections nor are we aligned with any particular political party. Our only agenda is to oppose the BJP and support whosoever is capable of defeating it.” Terming it as a historic move, Jai Kisan Andolan’s Yogendra Yadav said the farmers had “dared to politically challenge the powers that be” without directly interfering in the electoral politics. He said nearly 300 farmers have died during the ongoing farmers’ protest because of various reasons like cold, ailments, accidents or suicide. Yet, they are still determined to take the fight against the Narendra Modi government to its logical conclusion by forcing it to repeal the farm laws, he added. Farm leaders said they have made arrangements to ensure that farmers remained at the protest sites and wheat harvesting is also not impacted. On Saturday, SKM partners will hold a mahapanchayat in Nandigram, where chief minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting the election. This will be followed by another mahapanchayat in Singur.

The Times of India

2021-03-13

Amritsar