Farmers Movement Archive

22 farmer unions form front, to fight Punjab polls

Ahead of the Punjab Assembly election due early in 2022, 22 of the 32 State-based farmer unions that were at the forefront of the agitation against the now-repealed farm laws announced on Saturday they would contest the election under the banner of the Samyukt Samaj Morcha. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella farmers’ body that spearheaded the protests, however, said it would not contest the polls. The new political front, which announced it would contest all 117 Assembly seats, is being anchored by Balbir Singh Rajewal of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), Rajewal. Harmeet Singh of the BKU (Kadiyan) said that after coming back from the Delhi borders, people in Punjab were pinning high hopes on farmers to resolve long-pending issues plaguing the State. “To fulfil the aspirations of the people, 22 unions have decided to jointly contest the election,” he said. The decision to contest polls saw divergent responses from the unions. The BKU(Ekta-Ugrahan), one of the largest outfits in Punjab, and the Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee (KMSC), a prominent outfit at the forefront of the agitation, clearly said they would not be contesting the election. Both were not part of the 32 unions but were working in coordination with them to get the farm laws revoked. Not unanimous “We were with the other outfits only for the movement but not for the elections. If any harm comes to our struggle on farmers’ issue due to the decision of these [22 unions] to fight the election, they shall be directly responsible for the consequences. These unions have taken their own decision but we do not agree with it,” BKU(U) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Korikalan told The Hindu . Sarvan Singh Pandher, general secretary of the KMSC, said the constitution of their outfits did not allow electoral politics. “We will continue to work as a pressure group,” he said. Jagmohan Singh, general secretary, BKU(Ekta Dakonda), said it would not take the plunge into electoral politics, and a meeting had been convened on December 27 to decide whether or not to support the farmer unions which wanted to contest.

The Hindu

2021-12-26

CHANDIGARH