BKU leader Rakesh Tikait
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Tuesday said the protest against the Centre's three farm laws will be intensified in the Purvanchal region, which comprises parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and western Bihar. He said a 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' will be held in Lucknow on November 22, four days ahead of the anti-farm law protest at Delhi borders completing one year.
The BKU is part of the farmers collective Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spearheading the campaign, particularly the demonstrations at Delhi's three border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur since November 2020.
"The Kisan Mahapanchayat on November 22 to be held in Lucknow will be historic. This Mahapanchayat of the SKM will prove to be the last nail in the coffin of the anti-farmer government and the three black laws. Now the movement of 'Annadata' (food providers) will intensify even in Purvanchal," Tikait, the national spokesperson of the BKU, tweeted in Hindi.
Hundreds of farmers are encamped at Delhi borders with a demand that the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.
The Centre, which has held 11 rounds of formal dialogues with the farmers, has maintained that the new laws are pro-farmer, while protestors claim they would be left at the mercy of corporations because of the legislations.
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