BKU faction seeks views from public on contesting elections
NEW DELHI: A faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), a farmers’ outfit protesting against three agricultural laws enacted by the Modi government last year, on Thursday launched a Twitter poll on whether it should contest elections, taking an idea it has been toying with to the public.
The Bhupinder Singh Mannled faction, mainly active in Punjab, said this was the second time it had launched such a drive to test political waters and it is yet to take a decision. The last poll in August showed over two-thirds of the people wanted it to contest elections.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella organisation spearheading the protests, however, said the platform would remain apolitical, but it would ask voters in the forthcoming state elections to cast their votes against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which rules both at the Centre and poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.
Farm unions have been on protests since last November, demanding the government roll back three agricultural laws that seek to bring a more liberal regime of farm trade.
The government has argued that these reforms are necessary to modernise the farm sector, while the farmers say the changes will leave them at the mercy of large corporations.
“We as a farmers’ collective have already made three decisions. One, we will tell farmers to vote against the BJP; two, we will not ask farmers to vote for any particular party; and three, we will not allow any party to campaign from our platform,” said Hannan Mollah, a key member of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha.
The faction which has asked for public suggestion on whether it should contest polls said it will decide only after detailed deliberations and the Twitter poll is just one of them.
“We believe it is time for farmers to act politically, but we have not taken any decision yet on registering a political party,” Jai Singh, a spokesperson of the outfit said.
Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in the justconcluded Parliament session that the Centre was ready to discuss the farm laws and their provisions with the protesting farmers but there was no possibility of repealing the legislation. The minister also said the system of assured prices for agricultural produce, known as minimum support prices, would continue.