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SKM launches ‘Mission UP’ to oppose BJP
The SKM has said it analysed the BJP’s election manifesto and alleged that the party has merely repeated unfulfilled promises made five years ago.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a platform of farm unions protesting the Modi government’s farm policies, has launched “Mission Uttar Pradesh” to directly campaign against the ruling BJP in the ongoing assembly elections in the state, asking farmers to throw the Yogi-led government out of power. Goa and Uttarakhand voted on Monday, Manipur votes on February 28 and March 5. And Punjab goes to the polls on February 20. Monday also saw the second phase of the seven-phased UP election.
Leaders of the SKM, including Rakesh Tikait, Yogendra Yadav and Hannan Mollah, are holding a series of press conferences, in which they have alleged the Modi government cheated farmers by making false promises. They also said the recent Union budget had drastically reduced farm subsidies and had nothing for the farming community.
“They are raising the hijab issue as a distraction but the real issue is of hisaab (accountability),” farm leader Rakesh Tikait said, after holding a press conference in Lucknow on Monday, referring to a controversy in the southern state of Karnataka over schoolgirls being allowed to sport the hijab.
Tikait claimed that despite a written assurance on December 9, the Modi government had not fulfilled any of its promises made to farmers, based on which the SKM had withdrawn its 13-month-long agitation in various states.
Tikait said that the government had promised to consult farmers on the issue of minimum support prices, withdraw nearly 46000 cases filed against protesters and give compensation to farmers killed during the long agitation. “Not a single promise has been fulfilled. So, the BJP has to be defeated in these elections,” Tikait said.
The government’s position is that it cannot set up a committee while assembly elections in five states are on; they were announced on February 4. Replying to a query during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the Centre would set up a committee on minimum support price (MSP) once the assembly polls in five states come to an end. The Centre wrote to the Election Commission and was advised to announce the formation of the committee after the assembly elections, he added.
In an interview to HT, Union home minister Amit Shah, too, said: “After the elections are over, the government will not need to take permission from the election commission and after discussions with all, the committee can be formed.”
The SKM has said it analysed the BJP’s election manifesto and alleged that the party has merely repeated unfulfilled promises made five years ago.
The Modi government in December 2021 scrapped three farm-reform laws after nearly 14 months of widespread protests by peasants. The three laws were the cornerstone of the Modi government’s reforms in the farm sector, which employs nearly half all Indians.
Allocation for the agriculture ministry saw a marginal increase from Budget 2021-22 estimates of ₹123017.57 crore to ₹124000 crore for 2022-23. The budget also proposed to introduce drones and digital technologies to increase farm incomes.
“How can farmers afford drones when they don’t get basic prices for their produce?” said Hannan Mollah, another SKM leader.
