“Mission Uttar Pradesh” is the next step for farmers after six months of protesting at the Delhi borders. Samyukta Kisan Morcha, organizing the the protest by farmers against three agricultural laws passed. They want their repeal and decided to campaign against the ruling BJP in the assembly state along with other states that go in for assembly elections next year.
Hannan Mollah, All India Kisan Sabha general secretary, who has been working with the agitating farmers said, “Defeating BJP is the only way out since Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to only understand electoral loses.”
The SKM has yet to draw up an action plan for UP as there are some months to go for it, but the idea is to hold maha-panchayats across the state and mobilise farmers with the slogan to defeat BJP.
“We are not asking them to vote for any party as that is individual choice of the farmers… ours is a political movement against the draconian laws but not a partisan movement, Mollah told TOI on Thursday, a day after commemorating the six months of the protests at the Delhi borders.
“This movement has turned into a movement to change the regime or system. This is the main outcome of the movement,” said Gurnam Singh Chadooni, president Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Thursday at an interaction held by IWPC.
BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said at the same interaction session, “farmers have a firm resolve to continue with the movement and the government should not be under any misconception that it will fizzle out… it will only get stronger.”
The recent panchayat election results in UP where the ruling BJP in the state fared badly, seems to have encouraged the farmer leaders.
“It proved the movement had an impact on the ground beyond western UP where farmers have been agitating. Even eastern UP is responding to the issues like MSP… on the ground farmers are feeling the impact,” he said.
Farmer leaders had campaigned in the five states that held assembly polls recently with their message of voting against BJP.
By observing Black Day across the country on May 26, farmer leaders say that the movement saw a change in character, where individuals were involved in the protest by flying black flags or wearing black bands or badges, instead of mass mobilisation which was not possible due to the pandemic
According to our estimate 20 crore people observed black day, across the country. Mass mobilisation could not have involved so many people.The idea is that after six months of the movement at the Delhi borders farmer leaders plan to gradually turn it into a pan-India movement, while the border dharnas continue.
“It may take long but farmers are not going to go back after having put up such a strong movement. It is for the government to decide how long it lasts,” said Mollah.
Before the six months were completed, SKM had written to the Prime Minister on resuming the talks but that has not happened and hence the SKM is looking at a long haul.
