Yogendra Yadav said that 57 farmer organizations have supported the appeal of SKM. (file photo)
New Delhi:
The United Kisan Morcha (SKM) has appealed to the farmers of Uttar Pradesh to “punish” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming assembly elections for cheating them by not fulfilling their demands. This information was given by Yogendra Yadav, President of Swaraj India on Thursday. Yadav said that 57 farmer organizations have supported the appeal of SKM. He, however, clarified that the Morcha has nothing to do with seeking votes for any party in the elections.
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The SKM, which has spearheaded the farmers’ movement against the new agriculture laws, said their remaining demands, including setting up of a committee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) and withdrawal of cases against farmers, were still unfulfilled. “SKM has appealed to the farmers of Uttar Pradesh to punish the BJP in the upcoming elections for cheating the farmers,” Yadav said at a press conference here. The government has not fulfilled the demands of the farmers. Neither committee has been constituted for MSP nor cases against farmers have been withdrawn.
He said, “We will organize press conferences in the coming days at nine places including Meerut, Kanpur, Siddharthnagar, Gorakhpur and Lucknow. Pamphlets containing our appeal will be distributed all over Uttar Pradesh. SKM has nothing to do with seeking votes for any party. The front was and will remain apolitical.” Yadav said pamphlets appealing to farmers to “punish” the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh elections would be distributed by SKM-affiliated organizations in the state’s villages. The appeal claimed that the BJP has gone back on its promises made to farmers during the 2017 UP assembly elections.
The press conference was addressed by all the seven members of the coordination committee of SKM. Asked whether the SKM is supporting the Samyukta Samaj Morcha (SSM) in the Punjab Assembly elections, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said, “We are not supporting anyone.” Leader Darshan Pal also said that the Morcha is not supporting anyone in Punjab. “We will not allow anyone to use our platform to seek votes in the elections,” Yadav said.
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