SKM meet in Delhi on March 14 to re-start farmers’ protests

Th SKM wants the withdrawal of all cases lodged against farmers during the course of the agitation and a law that guarantees assured minimum prices for major farm produce to protect their incomes.

NEW DELHI: After a grave setback in the just-concluded assembly elections, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), a farmers’ platform that fiercely opposed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will hold its first deliberations in the national capital on March 14 to discuss future plans, especially to re-start its agitation, people who are aware of the development said.

While analysts say the SKM faces an uphill task now after the grave setback in the just-concluded assembly elections, a member of the group’s decision-making panel said the farmers’ goals were not about just one set of polls. (File)

While analysts say the SKM faces an uphill task now, a member of the group’s decision-making panel said the farmers’ goals were not about just one set of elections, although it widely campaigned to defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

In bellwether Uttar Pradesh, the BJP blunted the massive farmers’ uprising, comfortably winning a re-election, although with a slightly lower tally. The polls in the state were a centrepiece of wide attention because, as India’s most populous state, it influences national political trends.

“Whatever party is in power, our agitation will continue till our demands are met. I don’t want to talk about the UP elections. It’s over. But 100%, the agitation will continue. I am with the SKM,” Rakesh Tikait, leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, a farmers’ group, and a key face of the agitation, said on Sunday.

Tikait refuted doubts in some quarters that he might wind down his involvement in the agitation as “baddmashon ka affwaa (mischievous rumours)”. “(News) channels are saying we failed. If we failed, then why did the government take back the farm laws?” Tikait asked.

The immediate concern of the SKM is the withdrawal of all cases lodged against farmers during the course of the agitation, some of them under the harsh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Avik Saha, the SKM’s face in West Bengal, said: “I have been charged under UAPA. Am I a terrorist?”

The farmers also want a law that guarantees assured minimum prices for major farm produce to protect their incomes.

The farmers’ agitation of 2021 spread across several states was one of the largest agrarian demonstrations in decades. Their key demand was that the Modi government roll back three federal farm laws. Faced with discontent, the Modi government eventually cancelled the laws in December 2021.

Farmers feared the now-rescinded laws would leave them vulnerable to exploitation by large corporations who could dictate prices. The government argued the reforms were needed to boost investments in agriculture, still India’s largest employer.

Although the impact of the farmers’ campaign was limited, it did manage to diminish the BJP’s overall tally, bolster the opposition Samajwadi Party seats and led to some prominent BJP contenders losing at the ballots, farm leaders said.