Thousands of farmers, who gathered in New Delhi on Thursday for a ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ under the Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) banner, resolved to defeat the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
Alleging that the policies of the Centre had been “pro-corporate and anti-farmer”, the SKM gave a call for mass protests against the BJP, and to observe ‘save democracy day’ on March 23 against the BJP’s decision to field Minister of State of Home Ajay Mishra Teni from the Kheri Lok Sabha seat yet again. The SKM alleges that Mr. Teni is the “mastermind” behind the killing of four farmers and a journalist at Lakhimpur Kheri during the 2020-21 farmers’ protests.
A resolution adopted at the mahapanchayat also decided to “expose and punish” the BJP for not implementing the Swaminathan Commission formula on minimum support price. “The real homage to M.S. Swaminathan is not conferring the Bharat Ratna on him, but implementing the farmer-friendly recommendations in his report,” said senior SKM leader Ashok Dhawale. He said more than one lakh farmers committed suicide in the first eight years of the Narendra Modi regime and it showed the plight of farmers under the BJP regime.
