Farmers Movement Archive

People will reject BJP’s ‘politics of hatred’: Jayant

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary on Tuesday formally announced his party’s alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and said if they came to power in Uttar Pradesh next year, the first work will be to build a memorial for “martyrs” of the farmers’ protest. Assembly polls are slated to be held in Uttar Pradesh early in 2022. Slamming the BJP government in the state for the recent leak of a government competitive examination question paper and subsequent cancellation of the test, he said because of such incidents youngsters were not getting appointments and they had to migrate and work in other places.“The BJP will get a befitting reply from the people in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls next year as they have understood its politics of hatred. The BJP talks of ‘hatred’ and our ‘Babaji’ (a reference to CM Yogi Adityanath) starts with Aurangzeb and ends with the ‘Kairana exodus’,” he said while addressing a joint rally with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Dabathua village of the district. During the last assembly polls, the BJP had claimed that many Hindu families had migrated from Kairana town in fear of criminals. The claim of migration has been contested by some political parties.The RLD leader also said, “Babaji becomes angry very fast. You have never seen him smiling. He smiles only when he is with ‘bacchde’ (calves). I ask you people to free him so that he can play with his calves for 24 hours. He cannot handle government files.”Hailing the farmers’ agitation, he said, “I appreciate farmers for winning a big battle and forcing (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji, probably for the first time, to bow before them.” He was referring to the repeal of three central farm laws that had triggered a year of protests.“Our party had announced to construct the memorial in Meerut but now Akhilesh ji and I are together. The first work our double-engine government will do is to construct a memorial for martyr farmers, who died during farmers’ protest here in the land of Chowdhury Charan Singh,” Chaudhary added. He also accused BJP leaders of insulting the farmers and not uttering a single word to pay tribute to those farmers who died during their stir.“In Lakhimpur Kheri farmers were crushed. Over 700 of them died during the agitation (against the laws),” he said. During violence in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3 this year, eight people, including four farmers and two BJP workers, were killed. Chaudhary asked people to be there in Aligarh on December 23 on Kisan Diwas for another rally. December 23 happens to be the birth anniversary of former PM and Chaudhary’s grandfather Chaudhary Charan Singh.Addressing the gathering, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav remembered Chowdhury Charan Singh, Babasaheb Dr BR Ambedkar, Ram Manohar Lohia and farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait and highlighted their contribution to making an egalitarian society. “Now, the BJP will be wiped out from the state. This time there would be sunset of the BJP forever in western Uttar Pradesh,” he said. “’Kisanon ka inquilab hoga, 2022 me badlav hoga’ (There will be revolution by farmers and change in 2022),” Yadav said.Raising the farmers’ issues, he said, “Farmers are fighting for their rights and they want that the government should listen to them. However, they were crushed under the jeep of a BJP minister and his supporters ( a reference to Lakhimpur Kheri violence).”He reiterated that farmers should be given their rights and a decision should be taken on minimum support price (MSP). The SP leader also accused the BJP of not taking decisions which were beneficial for the farmers and assured them that his alliance (with RLD) would ensure their rights. Yadav also said growing prices of essential commodities and fuel had made peoples’ life difficult. He further said RLD and SP workers would help in strengthening harmony among people and assured people if voted to power, the SP-RLD government would give relief in electricity bills to the poor.

Hindustan Times

07-12-2021

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