Farmers Movement Archive

Kairana exodus was govt-sponsored plan: Rakesh Tikait

Meerut: In a first farmers’ rally, after calling off sit-ins at Delhi borders, in UP’s Kairana, farmer leader and Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait continued his tirade against the government, terming the 13-month-long agitation as a training for the farmers that had made them future-ready. Tikait also targeted the BJP-led government for raking up the Kairana exodus issue with the state polls around the corner, saying “it was a government-sponsored plan”. “It (the sit-ins) should be considered as the 13-month training for the farmers during which they emerged stronger. This training will help them in future agitations. At least 25 lakh farmers got trained. This is not the end. The struggle will continue as there are still many pending issues, such as high power tariff rates. Just compare it with Haryana. The same party is running both states, but still, there is so much difference in the treatment of farmers. Today, people from UP have to go to Haryana for work. Let me tell you, Kairana palaayan is sarkaari plan (Kairana exodus is a govt sponsored plan),” said the BKU leader. The Kairana exodus had become a burning issue in the 2017 UP polls after local MP Hukum Singh produced a list of 250 families, claiming that all of them had left Kairana because of the deteriorating law and order situation. The issue was later found mentioned in the BJP manifesto and triggered the BJP government’s policy of “intolerance to crime”. Meanwhile, maintaining an aggressive stance on MSP, Tikait said, “The government has agreed to form a committee for drafting a law on MSP. We have made it amply clear to the government that only pro-farmer people should be there in the draft committee, not the products of the corporate university. If the MSP law is implemented, it will directly benefit the farmers.”

The Times of India

2021-12-14

Meerut