Farmers Movement Archive

BJP to hold parallel meet with ‘real’ farmers in Lucknow today

As the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party completes four-and-a-half years of rule in Uttar Pradesh, the party is looking to hold a parallel meet with farmers – ones it considers “real” – even as another set of opposition-backed agriculturists continue to intensify their protests against the BJP over the central government's three farm reform laws. Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of UP, will be felicitated in Lucknow on Sunday by the farmers' wing of the BJP to mark the completion of 54 years of his rule in the state. The meeting in Lucknow is part of the BJP's goal to step up the initiative to connect with those who the party describes as “real farmers”.Also Read | NHRC notice to Centre, 4 states over farmers’ protestsMeanwhile, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)-led farmers' protests at Delhi's borders show no indication of backing off; with farmer leader Rakesh Tikait warning on Saturday that the demonstrations will only keep intensifying until the three contentious laws are repealed.The protesters allege that a “nexus” is operating between the central government and corporates to “rob” the farmers of their rights. Recently, Tikait led a massive farmer ‘maha panchayat in Muzaffarnagar to put pressure on the central government to withdraw the three farm laws. He has also announced his intention to work to ensure the BJP's defeat in the upcoming UP elections on the issue of the three legislations.Amid such a backdrop, the BJP's parallel meet with farmers in Lucknow assumes a special significance ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh (UP) assembly elections.Also Read | Delhi traffic hit as farmers mark 1 yr of controversial farm lawsThe BJP’s farmer wing chief in UP Kameshwar Singh said an estimated 20,000 farmers are expected at the Lucknow meeting. “Fifty farmers would come from each of the 403 assembly constituencies of UP to thank the chief minister for various pro-farmer measures,” he said, adding that only those assembly segments were selected which had a substantial presence of sugarcane farmers – about 60,000 strong, expected to be present in these meetings.The ruling BJP has sought to distinguish between these “real farmers” and ones agitating for ‘political reasons’.Referring to the anti-farm law protests, UP's deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said earlier this week, “Theirs is not a farmers’ agitation, it’s a political agitation.”

Hindustan Times

19-09-2021

Lucknow