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UP polls: Kisan morcha urges farmers ‘punish BJP’, recalls stir, Lakhimpur violence
In a letter addressed to the farmers of Uttar Pradesh, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha said the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre had rolled back the three laws after sensing that it would lose the elections and also did not fulfill the promises it made to the protesting farmers.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of several farmer unions that had spearheaded the year-long agitation against the three contentious farm laws last year, has appealed to the farmers of Uttar Pradesh to “punish” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Assembly election.
In a letter addressed to the farmers of the state, the SKM said the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre had rolled back the three laws after sensing that it would lose the elections and also did not fulfill the promises it made to the protesting farmers.
The letter, shared on Twitter by activist and Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav, also had the names of farmer leaders Rakesh Tikait , Darshan Pal, Hannan Molla, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Shivkumar Sharma (Kakka Ji) and Yudhvir Singh.
The Morcha said, “Earlier, the BJP government fired tear gas on the farmers opposing these laws, used water cannons, lathi-charged and framed false cases, insulted us by calling the agitators middlemen, terrorists and anti-nationals. Then when it felt that the election could be lost, all the three laws were withdrawn.”
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The SKM further spoke about the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed after a speeding vehicle knocked down a group of protesters against the three laws last year.
The body said that minister of state for home affairs Ajay Mishra, whose son Ashish Mishra is the prime accused in the case, was being protected by the ruling Yogi Adityanath government in the state.
“The Supreme Court reprimanded and (only) then the minister's son was caught. The court clearly said there was a conspiracy behind the killing, but the real conspirators are still roaming free. Why? Because the BJP needs Ajay Mishra Teni in elections,” it said, adding that the BJP was more concerned with votes than with the killing of farmers.
It also called upon the farmers to teach the BJP “a lesson” in the upcoming elections as it had “insulted” the farmers.
“The BJP government does not understand the language of truth and lies, does not understand the difference between good and bad, does not know the difference between constitutional or unconstitutional. This party understands only one language - vote, seat, power,” it said.
Alleging that the BJP had gone back on its words in UP too, it said the state government did not waive loans for farmers as promised. It also did not bring down electricity rates. “The promise was to protect the cows, but today the farmers of the entire state are suffering from the problem of stray animals,” it said. It also spoke about migrating labourers and unemployment in the state.
“To open the ears of this anti-farmer BJP government, it needs to be punished in the elections,” the farmer union said. It urged the farmers to question the BJP leaders on these issues who came to them seeking votes.
