Western Uttar Pradesh has been the cradle of the farmers’ agitation against the now-repealed agricultural laws and is likely to set the tone for the upcoming assembly elections narrative. It is also home to the influential Jat community whose support in the upcoming polls is seen as key.
Farm leader and Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait, who belongs to the Jat community, told HT that his farmer union is seeking solutions to their agricultural woes, and has maintained a distance from electoral politics. Edited excerpts:
With the farm agitation in the backdrop, now Jat politics too is at play in western UP from where you belong. Being a Jat yourself, how do you see this? Who are the Jats going to support?
Don’t consider me a Jat. We are farmers. Farmers are above caste. We are united on our issues. Farm agitation and farmers’ issues will play out across the state in the elections and beyond, and not just in western UP.
Are you with any political party – covertly or overtly?
No, we are neither with the government nor with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal (alliance), or any other party. We are not for or against anyone, the government or the Opposition. Our issues are farmers’ issues. Our issues are the ones that concern farmers across the country.
Are you asking farmers or communities to vote for any political party?
{{/usCountry}}Are you asking farmers or communities to vote for any political party?
{{/usCountry}}No, we are not in the business of votes. We are away from electoral politics and votes. We are a farmers’ body, we are struggling for farmers’ issues. People and farmers know themselves whom to vote for. It’s their business. Farmers, after selling their produce at half the deserving prices, will know whom to vote for. A housewife, after buying a ₹400 (cooking gas) cylinder for ₹1,000, will know whom to vote for. Those who are sitting at home without jobs will know whom to vote for.
Several senior leaders are converging in western UP...
Now the UP government is moving around western UP. They (ministers and leaders) are flying in and out of the region. It would have been better had they travelled by road. Then they would have known that they did not make the roads. And it would have been better had they travelled to western UP by road six months earlier to see the work instead of seeking votes now.
While the government is going to villages, we are looking for them in Delhi. The government should have thought over the farmers’ questions, the public’s questions. The government is too late.
But aren’t the government and leaders of other political parties meeting farmers?
No, they are not. They are only looking for votes. Did anyone go to meet the farmers who are in jail? I don’t see the government anywhere. For 13 months, the farmers were agitating. The government was nowhere to be seen. The government is not seen, visible, or traced. We were trying to trace the government but failed.
Farm laws have been withdrawn, so what do you want to meet the Union government for?
We wanted to meet the central government over MSP (minimum support prices) for crops, but they didn’t meet us.
But you are meeting the government today…
Yes and no. Of course, I am meeting the UP government today. But it is not for the farm issues that are nagging farmers. The meeting is only about the agreement related to the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. Some important elements of the agreement have not yet been fulfilled. We are meeting the committee that was formed by the government after the October 3 incident.
What are the elements of the agreement that are yet to be fulfilled?
Two important ones — jobs to the kin of the deceased farmers, and compensation to those who were injured in the incident. And we will also talk about the cane payments to farmers. We will raise the Teni (demand for the resignation of Union minister Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’ ) question also.
Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Jayant Chaudhary are fighting the polls together. Yadav has also made promises related to farmers. How do you see this?
We are not with any politician. Yes, he has promised free electricity for irrigation for farmers and compensation to the victims of the farm struggle. All political parties are after votes. Had the government and political parties done politics of development, instead of politics of votes, things would have been different. All day-to-day issues concerning the people would automatically be addressed.