JAIPUR: Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) chief and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal has finally quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in protest against the three farm laws that have provoked a massive agitation by farmers in the country.
Beniwal announced his decision to break ties with the NDA after he arrived at a protest spot at Shahjahanpur on the Rajasthan-Haryana border, along with thousands of farmers from Rajasthan on Saturday afternoon.
Addressing protesters, Beniwal, a Lok Sabha MP from Rajasthan's Nagaur seat, asserted, “We won't stand with anyone who is against the rights and interests of farmers of the country.” The decision to exit the NDA came exactly a week after Beniwal resigned from three Parliamentary committees last week.
Last Saturday, Beniwal had announced his plan to take over 2 lakh farmers from Rajasthan on a ‘March to Delhi’ in support of the agitating farmers.
Beniwal confessed he was perturbed by the BJP "cheating the farmers". Since the farmers were suffering on the roads for the last 31 days, his conscience "didn’t allow him to stay on in the NDA when his rural brethren were in dire distress." The MP threatened to resign from the Lok Sabha too and requested the central government not to unleash violence on the non-violent farmers as it would lead to severe consequences.
A prominent Jat leader, Beniwal enjoys considerable support among the youth and the community in districts like Nagaur, Barmer and the Shekhawati belt of Rajasthan. Beniwal had launched the RLP in Rajasthan after quitting the BJP before the 2018 state elections and though he allied with the BJP ahead of the 2019 general elections, he has been quite critical of the farm laws and has extended vocal support to the farmers' movement.
He exhorted farmers of Alwar district to join him in his march to Delhi and stated he would not join hands with any party that is against the farmers’ interest and welfare.
Soon after quitting the NDA, Beniwal also tweeted in Hindi that his party was disassociating from the NDA on account of the anti-farm bills by the BJP-led government. The RLP is the latest member of the NDA to leave the alliance which earlier has seen high-profile exits of the Shiv Sena last year and the Akali Dal in September after facing a backlash from farmers in Punjab.