Farmer Union leader Rakesh Tikait has threatened that the protesters would not ‘allow’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to set foot in Uttar Pradesh if the UP government caused any problems in Mahapanchayat on November 22 in Lucknow.
Tikait was attending Kartik Mela at Garhmukteshwar, where he gave the speech. He further added that choosing BJP was a mistake, and the people of UP should ‘eliminate the lotus flower’.
“Ek bhool, Kamal ka phool,” said Tikait. It roughly means the people should not make the mistake of voting for the lotus (BJP).
Tikait reached the Kartik Mela with his followers in large numbers. Using the stage for political gains, Tikait was found making inflammatory statements from the stage. When he was asked why he was using Kartik Mela for political statements, he said, “Where else would I talk about politics? You are free to file a case against me if I have made political statements. If someone does not want to listen to political statements, why are they coming to our meetings?” Notably, a lot of people from Western Uttar Pradesh come to attend Kartik Mela.
He further issued a ‘warning’ for the Yogi-led government in UP and said, “They also need to visit different places in Uttar Pradesh. If they try to disturb Mahapanchayat in Lucknow, neither Prime Minister nor Chief Minister would be able to land in UP. CM is doing his rallies, and we are doing ours.” Tikait was hinting towards the campaigning for the upcoming UP Assembly elections.
Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections
The Assembly elections for the state of Uttar Pradesh are scheduled for early 2022. Most of the major parties in the state have already started campaigning for the elections. UP, being the largest state in terms of the population holds an important position in Lok Sabha elections as well. The results of Assembly elections will help the national parties to set the agenda for the Lok Sabha elections 2024.
