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Tikait reiterates demand for Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s dismissal
Farmer leaders congregated in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri, where Teni’s son allegedly mowed down farmers protesting against the now-repealed farm laws, for a 75-hour long sit-in protest
Bhartiya Kisan Union-Tikait leader Rakesh Tikait on Thursday reiterated the demand for Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s dismissal as farmer leaders congregated in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri for a 75-hour long sit-in protest.
Teni’s son, Ashish Mishra, is accused of mowing down farmers protesting against the now-repealed farm laws in Lakhimpur Kheri in October last year.
Tikait said the sit-in will conclude on Saturday and that the farmers will chalk out their strategy to press for their pending demands, including a law guaranteeing minimum support prices, end to privatisation of electricity, and action against Teni.
“Larger agitations by farmers cannot not be avoided because of the anti-farmer policies of the government,” Tikait said. He added farmers must be ready to safeguard their agriculture.
Avtar Singh Mehlo, a farmer leader from Punjab, called the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to set a lower and upper cap on power tariffs, “totally anti-farmer”. He said it will snatch powers from states such as Punjab and Hariyana to provide free electricity for agricultural purposes.
Singh said the bill will hurt the federal structure and make electricity costlier for the farmers amid growing inflation. He demanded compensation for the farmers, who died during the agitation against the repealed farm laws.
Activist Medha Patekar was among those in Lakhimpur Kheri for the sit-in protest being organised amid tight security arrangements. Thousands of farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Hariyana are attending the sit-in.
Three agricultural laws enacted to liberalise the trade of farm produce were repealed in November last year following protracted protests since October 2020. The protests snowballed into a full-blown political uprising and spread to several states.
