Samyukta Kissan Morcha leaders hold meeting in Shivamogga
Leaders argued that the BJP could not realise its dream of 400 seats in Lok Sabha polls because of farmers’ struggle
The people who claimed to win more than 400 seats lost their face in the elections because of the farmers’ struggle, which continued despite all efforts to stop it, said Jagjit Singh Dallewal, leader of Samyukta Kisan Morcha in Punjab.
Mr. Dallewal, speaking at a national-level meeting of farmers’ leaders in Shivamogga on Monday, said the farmers staged the protest despite all odds. The farmers continued their struggle even after the Centre used all its machinery to stop. “They used tricks normally used against terrorists. There was pressure on us to stop the protest when the elections were declared and the model code of conduct was in effect. Normally, protests take a break during the elections. However, we did not stop. Every political party had to include farmers’ demands in their manifestos,” he said.
Further, he maintained that the BJP could not reach the target of 400 seats because of the struggle. “The people gave a strong message to the government, which tried to disturb the peaceful protest,” he said.
He said that the struggle would continue until all the demands were fulfilled. Farmers in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andra Pradesh, and Karnataka would continue the struggle. The organisation would submit the memorandum to all Lok Sabha members except those elected on the BJP ticket. “We want a minimum support price for agriculture products and implementation of Dr. M.S. Swaminathan’s report. The government has to listen to us,” he said.
Kuruburu Shanthakumar, president of Raitha Sanghatanegala Okkuta in Karnataka, in his preliminary remarks, said that the struggle seeking a law to ensure minimum support price would continue. The meeting had been convened in Shivamogga to plan future struggles. “This is the land of farmers’ movements. We will take the movement ahead from here onwards”, he said. Mr. Shanthakumar also criticised the State government for stopping its contribution to the Kissan Samman scheme.
K.V. Bijju, leader of SKM from Kerala, said that the Centre had been reducing import duties, and penalising the farmers. The corporate companies had been taking away the profit that farmers deserved. M.D. Nanjundaswamy, the leader of Karnataka Raitha Sangha, had warned of such a situation long ago, he said.
Abhimanyu Kohar of Haryana, Ramana Gowndar, P.R. Pandian of Tamil Nadu, Venkateshwara Rao of Telangana, Jaffar Khan of Delhi, and others were present.
- Telegram
SEE ALL
PRINT