NEW DELHI: The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Thursday appealed to farmers in Uttar Pradesh to punish the BJP in the upcoming assembly elections for betraying the farmers by not fulfilling their demands.
The Morcha has claimed to have support of 57 farmers unions and also clarified that it has nothing to do with seeking votes for any party in the ongoing elections. The SKM declared that if the government reneged on its written assurance and promises to protesting tillers, “farmers would be left with no option but to resume their agitation.”
“SKM has issued an appeal to farmers in UP to punish the BJP in the upcoming elections for betraying the farmers. The government has not fulfilled its promises. No committee has been formed yet for Minimum Support Price and neither the cases against farmers have been withdrawn,” Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav said at a press conference in the national capital.
The remaining demands include setting up of a committee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) and withdrawal of cases against farmers, remain unfulfilled, said the SKM that spearheaded the farmers agitation against new agri laws which were later rolled back.
“We will organise press conferences at nine places, including Meerut, Kanpur, Siddharthnagar, Gorakhpur and Lucknow in the coming days. Pamphlets containing our appeal will be distributed across UP,” Yadav said, adding that the SKM has nothing to do with seeking votes for any party.
‘‘The Morcha was and will continue to remain apolitical”. In their appeal to farmers, the unions also referred to Lakhimpur Kheri incident and claimed that the accused was arrested only after the Supreme Court intervened into the matter and the minister Ajay Mishra is still free because of ongoing polls.