Thousands of farmers, who gathered in New Delhi on Thursday for a ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ under the Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) banner, resolved to defeat the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
Alleging that the policies of the Centre had been “pro-corporate and anti-farmer”, the SKM gave a call for mass protests against the BJP, and to observe ‘save democracy day’ on March 23 against the BJP’s decision to field Minister of State of Home Ajay Mishra Teni from the Kheri Lok Sabha seat yet again. The SKM alleges that Mr. Teni is the “mastermind” behind the killing of four farmers and a journalist at Lakhimpur Kheri during the 2020-21 farmers’ protests.
A resolution adopted at the mahapanchayat also decided to “expose and punish” the BJP for not implementing the Swaminathan Commission formula on minimum support price. “The real homage to M.S. Swaminathan is not conferring the Bharat Ratna on him, but implementing the farmer-friendly recommendations in his report,” said senior SKM leader Ashok Dhawale. He said more than one lakh farmers committed suicide in the first eight years of the Narendra Modi regime and it showed the plight of farmers under the BJP regime.
The SKM also demanded action against Union Home Minster Amit Shah and former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for the recent killing of farmers in police action on the Punjab-Haryana boundary. They also resolved to convert the ongoing struggles of farmers and workers into a people’s movement to protect livelihood. “This anti-people regime in the last 10 years has been working as agents of the corporate forces, both foreign and domestic, to privatise and loot the national assets – including the vast sector of public sector enterprises covering airlines, railways, seaports, insurance, bank and power – as well as land, water, forests, among others,” said the resolution termed Sankalp Patra.
It urged mass organisations to unleash a massive and strong protest against the BJP across the country under the banner of United People’s Movement. “The mahapanchayat appeals to the people to punish the BJP for atrocities unleashed on the democratic, secular and federal character of the Indian republic,” it said.
‘Democracy under attack’
In a message to the mahapanchayat, 10 Central trade unions said the workers are with the farmers after understanding that the “corporate-communal nexus” is posing great danger to the core values enshrined in the Constitution. “Secular democracy, the right to dissent, freedom of expression, right to diverse cultures, languages and religious beliefs are under attack,” the trade unions said.
“We are together in our serious concern for the economy in deep crisis, rising unemployment, falling wages and continuous rise in the prices of essential commodities, making living difficult for the common people. The cost of education and health services is rising exorbitantly,” they added.
