Govt being run by big corporates which is why they're not talking to us: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Friday alleged the Centre was 'pro-corporate' which is why it has not been holding talks with farmers protesting the agri laws, but asserted the agitators sitting at Delhi's borders will return home only when their demands are met. Tikait, who was trying to galvanise support for the 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' to be held at Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh on September 5, said the farmers' agitation was not just against the three contentious Central agri laws but also to save the country.

"This agitation has been going on for nine months and the government has not held talks since January 22. We have repeatedly said that this government is being run by big corporates. That is why they are not talking to us," he said.

Tikait also accused the government of selling off public sector enterprises.


"But they say these are being given on lease. Will one day they give Parliament on lease too?" he posed.

About the Centre's decision to hike the minimum price that mills have to pay to sugarcane growers by Rs 5 per quintal, the BKU leader said they raised the price by 5 paise per kilogramme.

The government will have to rescind the three farm laws and give a legal guarantee for minimum support price, Tikait said, adding the farmers protesting at Delhi's borders will not return to their homes till their demands are met.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised that farmers' income will double in 2022.

"We will also publicize this and sell our produce at double rates from January 1, so the government makes arrangements accordingly," Tikait said sarcastically.

He also alleged that the Central government was bent upon systematically destroying the manner in which farmers grow different crops.

"Under pressure from the sugar lobby, they will import sugar and destroy sugarcane growers. They will do the same to farmers growing pulses," Tikait alleged.

The BKU leader also dubbed the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2021, passed by the state assembly earlier this week as "anti-farmer".