Bijnor (UP): BKU leader Rakesh Tikait has claimed that the Centre’s ‘silence’ for the past few days indicates that it is planning some steps against the farmers’ agitation over newly enacted farm laws. Rakesh Tikait also stressed that it is the government that will have to come forward with a proposal for talks to resume with the protesting farmers.
Before leaving Sunday night for Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader told reporters in here that the government’s silence is ‘worrying’. “The government’s silence for the past 15-20 days is indicating that something is going to happen. The government is planning some steps against the agitation,” asserted Tikait.
However, Tikait said farmers will not step back till a solution is found. “The farmer is also ready. He will look after his crop as well as the agitation. Let the government hold talks when it has the time,” he said.
Also read: Rakesh Tikait threatens country-wide agitation unless farm laws are repealed
Tikait also said farmers’ ‘mahapanchayats’ will be held at several places in India till March 24.
Tikait was asked about the violence during a tractor parade on Republic Day in New Delhi. He alleged that the government created the trouble. On the issue of farmers destroying their standing crop at different places, Tikait said the BKU has told farmers that the time for such action has not come yet. “But why is the government not appealing to farmers not to take such a step,” he asked.
Tikait said farmers will intensify their agitation if the wheat crop is not sold on the minimum support price (MSP) in Uttar Pradesh. They will hold dharnas outside district headquarters across Uttar Pradesh.
