The so-called farmer leaders, who have now established a permanent colony of brick and mortar houses outside the Delhi border, have at last left all the pretence of being ‘apolitical’. Although it was known from the beginning that the so-called protest against three farm laws is nothing but propaganda against the Modi government, the left-liberal media had tried hard to paint it as a genuine agitation of farmers. But with the assembly elections starting in 4 states and one UT, the farmer leaders have decided to jump into the political arena.
The protesting leaders have decided to focus on West Bengal, where the election battle is most heated, as Mamata Banerjee faces a tough challenge from BJP. BJP is almost certain to win in Assam, and it has slim chance in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, as such, the opposition parties are putting their best efforts in Bengal for preventing BJP in grabbing power. As part of that strategy, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait reached Kolkata today, where officially he is scheduled to address Kisan Mahapanchayats in Kolkata and other locations.
However, Tikait has made it clear that in the Mahapanchayats, he will also campaign against the BJP, and will ask the attendees to defeat BJP in the elections. Although Tikait said that he will appeal to the voters of Bengal to vote against the BJP, he claimed that he is not supporting any political party in the assembly elections.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the umbrella organisation of farmer organisations running the protests, has also released an appeal for the farmers to vote against BJP. A pamphlet released by it starts with the title- ‘An appeal to the farmers of Bengal, give proper lesson to anti-farmer BJP in these elections’.
It says that if farmers of Bengal punished BJP in the elections, it will learn a proper lesson. ‘If BJP losses the Bengal elections, its pride will be shattered and Modiji will have to accept the demands of the farmers’, the pamphlet issued by SKM says.
It says that it is not telling whom to vote, and the farmers can vote as per their choice, but they should not do the mistake of pressing the button next to the lotus. The pamphlet further adds as they are not able to send it to every farmer in the state, the recipient should copy the same and distribute it among others, or share the same through mobile phones.
Even though Rakesh Tikait said they are not supporting any political party, when he reached Kolkata, TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen was present at the Kolkata airport to welcome him. He said that he will go to Nandigram, the constituency from where CM Mamata Banerjee is contesting. A Kishan Mahapanchayat is also being organised in Nandigram.
As part of the campaign, SKM leaders are expected to campaign extensively against the BJP in West Bengal during the 8-phase assembly elections starting from 27th April.
