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Tikait bats for farmers, pressure mounts on BKU to support stir
Farmers of western UP are perturbed over watching heavy barricading of police to stop farmers from entering Delhi and how police are lobbing teargas shells on protestors, says BKU (Tikait) leader
MEERUT The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikait) will take a decision on how to extend support to the ongoing protest of farmers after union leader Rakesh Tikait returns from his Karnataka visit on Thursday.
Farmer leaders who contested the previous assembly election in Punjab after participating in the farmers’ movement in 2021 have been excluded from the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (apolitical) movement. The SKM also did not give invitation to BKU (Tikait) to join the ongoing protest.
However, there is growing pressure on the Tikait family and farmers want to know how the BKU will support the movement when they are not part of the protest.
Yogesh Sharma, district president of BKU (Tikait) in Muzaffarnagar’s Sisauli town where the BKU HQ is situated, said farmers of western UP are perturbed over watching the heavy barricading of police to stop farmers from entering Delhi and how the police and paramilitary forces are lobbing teargas shells on protesting farmers.
He said the guarantee of MSP is farmers’ genuine demand and it will benefit farmers across the country.
Sharma said BKU leader Rakesh Tikait is in Karnataka and expected to return on Thursday. “After his return, a meeting will be convened to discuss and decide the stance of the union in the ongoing protest of farmers and participation of farmers from west UP,” said Sharma.
Meanwhile, Tikait has supported the protest of farmers and urged the union government to resolve the issues through talks. He said he is neither away from Delhi nor farmers.
The police and the administration are keeping a close watch on the possible movement of farmers from different districts of western UP.
The police confined BKU (Mahatma Tikait) district president Nikki Taliyan, state general secretary Vipin Malik in their houses as they were gearing up to move towards Delhi on Tuesday. The duo said they will go to Delhi, whenever possible.
BKU (Asli) president Harpal Singh Bilari alleged that the police confined many farmer leaders in their houses in different districts of the region since Tuesday to prevent them from going to Delhi.
ADG (Meerut zone) DK Thakur denied that anyone was confined in the house and said farmer leaders were approached in different districts by local officials and briefed that barricades have been placed on Delhi-UP border to prevent entry of protesters in the Capital.
Farmer leaders claimed that forces have been deployed in border districts and the police are keeping a close watch on vehicles going towards Delhi, especially tractors and trollies.
