Lakhimpur Kheri (UP), August 18
Farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on Thursday began a three-day protest, demanding the sacking of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra over the violence here last year for which his son is in the dock.
The protesters, who included farmers from Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu as well, also demanded a law on minimum support price (MSP) for their crops and withdrawal of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
Bhartiya Kisan Union-Tikait and other constituents of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) gave the call for the 75-hour-long sit-in from August 18 to 20 to seek “justice” in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.
Speaking to news persons at the dharna site, BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait vowed that the SKM would continue its fight for justice to the farmers across the nation.
The Lakhimpur agitation was primarily to press for the dismissal of Ajay Kumar Mishra from the Union Cabinet, Tikait said. “Moreover, a law on minimum support price (MSP) to the farmers was also a major demand of the SKM,” he added.
Mishra is the Union minister of state for Home.
“The (Modi) government is bent on handing over power supply to the private sector through the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022. BKU and SKM would oppose this move as this would adversely affect the farming sector,” Tikait said.
