Govt has no option but to repeal farm laws: UP Congress chief Lallu after meeting Tikait at Ghazipur border

Amid apprehensions that the Yogi government in UP may use force to evict farmers from the Ghazipur protest site, UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu met BKU leader Rakesh Tikait for the second consecutive day on Saturday evening.

Extending the support of the party to the ongoing farmers’ protests against the contentious farm laws, Lallu, who is scheduled to attend a ‘Kisan Panchayat’ in Saharanpur on Sunday, said that the Modi government had no option except repealing these laws.

“Suspension is not a solution…Both the BJP governments – the Modi government at the Center and the Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh – should know that by using force, you cannot suppress the farmers’ voice. And the Congress party is standing firmly behind the farmers’ agitation,” said Lallu.

“The UP Congress will launch a massive protest if the UP government dares to touch the farmers…Congress workers will not hesitate to go to jail in support of farmers,” he added.

Talking to NH, Lallu said that the UP Congress was organizing ‘Kisan Panchayats’ in almost all districts in western Uttar Pradesh.

Pointing out that these were aimed at educating farmers against the farm laws, Lallu said that in the next few weeks at least a dozen ‘Kisan Panchayats’ will be organized by the party.

“The idea behind ‘Kisan Panchayats’ is to expand the base and revitalize the organization,” he said.

Lallu had visited the Ghazipur protest site on Friday also – a day after Rakesh Tikait made an emotional appeal asking farmers to join the protest at Ghazipur in large numbers, which turned the tables against the UP administration’s attempt to forcibly clear out the protest site, as reported by NH on January 29.

Since then, from being seen as the weakest link of the movement, Tikait has emerged as the one of its most important faces.

Farmers have been protesting on various borders of Delhi since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.