After Bharat Bandh, Rakesh Tikait heads to Chhattisgarh for kisan mahapanchayat

By Press Trust of India: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait will address a 'kisan mahapanchayat' in Rajim in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district on Tuesday, organisers of the event said.

The event will be held from 11 am under the aegis of Chhattisgarh Kisan Majdoor Mahasangh (CKMM), an umbrella body of farm outfits, at Krishi Upaj Mandi premises, Tejram Vidrohi, convener of CKMM's organising committee, said on Monday.

"Leaders of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha from Delhi, Rakesh Tikait, Yogendra Yadav, Medha Patkar and others will attend the event. Apart from the withdrawal of the three farm laws, we also want the Centre to enact a law to ensure minimum support price (MSP) guarantee for agriculture produce," he said.

The three laws, namely The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020, were passed by Parliament in September last year.

ALSO READ | ‘A slap on face of detractors’: Bharat Bandh a success, claims Rakesh Tikait

While those opposing these laws have claimed the Centre was trying to bring in corporates and private firms into the agriculture sector at the expense of farmers, the Union government has said these legislations are aimed at increasing the income of cultivators.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA and former minister Brijmohan Agrawal called the event a "state-sponsored" one with the Chhattisgarh CM and Congress ministers expressing support to save their faces.

"Nothing will happen with the visit if Tikait ji, He is just wasting his time. There is no provision in these bills which harms the interests of farmers and labourers," he said.

on Monday said the ongoing protest against the three Central agriculture laws will end only with a mutual understanding with the government and not by the intervention of the court, according to a release.

ALSO READ | PM Modi will lose election if he contests from Gujarat: Rakesh Tikait at Kisan Mahapanchayat

On Monday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farm unions, observed a national shutdown to mark one year since President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the three controversial laws and 10 months since thousands of farmers set up camp at Delhi's border points to voice their protest.

Speaking at the 11th Bhartiya Chhatra Sansad virtually, Tikait appealed to young people to step out of their homes and join the "revolution", said a release issued by the organisers.

"Today the country witnessed Bharat Bandh. I feel the government is making senseless amendments to the laws and policies. The government wants to sell the valuable resources of the country, they want to sell the lands," the release quoted Tikait as saying.

He said it is high time for the youth to step out of their homes and join the revolution.

"I feel this will strengthen the revolution immensely," he added.

Tikait also said if the government continues to dismantle the resources, one day India will be known as 'Mazdoor colony' and only labour class (will be left) in the country.

"The protest will get over only with a mutual understanding with the government and not with the intervention of the court," Tikait said.

WATCH | Rakesh Tikait hits out at Centre, says it's not run by BJP, but by companies

While suspending the implementation of the three farm laws, the Supreme Court had constituted a Committee on January 12, 2021.

"We are absolutely against privatisation and we will sit as long as this bill (laws) are taken back," he added.

The Bhartiya Chhatra Sansad conclave was organised by the MIT School of Government (MIT-SOG), a constituent unit of MIT World Peace University (MIT-WPU, Pune.

The three laws -- The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 -- were passed by Parliament in September last year.

Farmer groups have alleged that these laws will end the 'mandi' and the MSP (minimum support price) procurement systems and leave cultivators at the mercy of big corporates.

The government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced and asserted that these steps will help increase farmers' income.