RLD’s mahapanchayat on Thursday; may trigger farmers’ agitation in western UP
Speculation is rife that the Rashtriya Lok Dal’s (RLD) proposed mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar on Thursday against the controversial farm bills may trigger farmers’ agitation in western Uttar Pradesh (UP).
Besides, UP Police’s assault on RLD leader Jayant Choudhary and his supporters in Hathras district on Sunday triggered an uproar among the followers of late Prime Minister and Jat leader Charan Singh.
Jayant is the grandson of Charan Singh and also the son of former Union minister Ajit Singh.
RLD and Samajwadi Party (SP) workers in Hathras were assaulted by the UP Police on Sunday after they had allegedly breached barricades in their bid to reach Boolgarhi village in the district, which is in the eye of a raging political controversy.
Trouble had erupted after a Dalit teenager (19) was allegedly gang-raped by four upper caste men and the grievous injuries led to her death last week.
The UP Police’s action against Jayant has enraged the Jat community, which is largely engaged in agriculture and also a dominant caste group in western UP.
A video of the assault went viral, where Jayant can be seen interacting with media persons, when the police resorted to lathi charge and beat up RLD leaders and their supporters.
However, the video clip did not show RLD supporters trying to breach police barricades to enter into Boolgarhi village.
Sunday’s incident ahead of the mahapanchayat has angered the public and RLD leaders are expecting a massive turnout at the event in support of Jayant.
“The party has a rural base and farmers are associated with it in large numbers. Majority of them still admire Charan Singh. The assault on Jayant has angered the public and they are expected to turn up at the mahapanchayat in large numbers to show their solidarity with Jayant and his family in a bid to send a message to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” said Rahul Deo, Meerut district president, RLD.
Rajkumar Sangwan, RLD’s organisational general secretary, said the mahapanchayat was announced to oppose the controversial farm laws and the Muzaffarnagar district administration’s decision to register cases against party leaders, who had protested against these legislations and staged a dharna last week.
“UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath wants to govern the state with batons. FIRs (first information reports) are being routinely filed against opposition parties to suppress our voices of dissent,” said Sangwan.
RLD workers and leaders staged a protest outside the office of the divisional commissioner in Meerut on Monday. They raised slogans and burnt an effigy of the UP CM to oppose the assault on Jayant and RLD supporters in Hathras on Sunday.
“We demand arrest of the police personnel who had assaulted our leader and supporters and condemn the ‘jungle raj’ under Yogi’s rule in UP,” said Narendra Khajuri, a RLD leader.
RLD leaders have been busy mobilising farmers and party supporters in villages to ensure their participation in the mahapanchayat in large numbers, said Sunil Rohta, a spokesperson of the RLD.
“We have been receiving an overwhelming response from the public and expecting a good turnout at the mahapanchayat on Thursday,” said Rohta.
He claimed that the event would trigger a movement against the farm bills and the “excesses of the ruling party”.
Dharmendra Malik, UP spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), a farmers’ organisation linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the BJP, said farmers from western UP were against the farm laws and a movement was building up against the recent legislations.
He said the BKU had called for a warning protest on October 22, where farmers would stage a protest at district and tehsil headquarters across the state.