Khap chiefs: Tikait’s call not to invite BJP leaders may have impact

MEERUT: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) chief Naresh Tikait’s call to farmers not to send invitations to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers for family and village functions would have an impact on the people of the western UP region, leaders of khaps (clan-based councils) said, but a BJP lawmaker insisted it was a political move and that he was still getting such invites.

Naresh Tikait issued the diktat at the Sisauli panchayat in Muzaffarnagar on Wednesday. The move comes in the backdrop of the ongoing farmers’ agitation against three new agriculture reform laws a few months before the panchayat elections, which the Allahabad high court has ordered the state government to hold by April 30.

The BKU chief also prescribed a penalty if anyone flouted this order of his and said, “Those who would invite them (BJP leaders and workers) defying the panchayat’s dikat would offer food to 100 persons as penalty.” Naresh Tikait is also the head of Baliyan khap. The Baliyan, Deshkhap, Gathwala and Tomar khaps are the major khaps of the Jat community in western UP.

Subhash Baliyan, secretary of the Sarv Khap Panchayat, said Naresh Tikait commanded “great respect” in the society as he was the head of the Baliyan Khap, which has members in 84 villages of the region. Therefore, his words would definitely have an impact on people, he added.

Naresh Tikait gave his call as the chief of BKU and farmers belonging to different khaps were associated with BKU, he said.

Deshkhap, too, has members in 84 villages of the region. Its thambedar (local chief) Chaudhary Brijpal Singh said that whatever decision the BKU chief took would have an effect on farmers cutting across khaps, castes and communities. He claimed some people were unhappy with BJP MPs and MLAs.

“(Naresh) Tikait’s call to villagers would make things more difficult for them in villages because their absence in functions would further dilute their bond with people,” he claimed.

Chaudhary Rajendra Singh, the chief of Gathwala Khap, however, suggested that the BJP leaders should be invited to a panchayat to explain their position. “This call was a kind of social boycott of BJP leaders. I believe that they are our own people. Therefore, they should be given a chance to explain their position, before putting such harsh things against them,” he said.

Umesh Malik, the BJP MLA from Budhana constituency in Muzaffarnagar district, said over the phone: “Chaudhary Naresh Tikait is a respectable person in the society but he has given a political call.”

Malik, who belongs to Gathwala khap, claimed that he was still receiving invitations from people and attending programmes.

Manoj Malik, former pradhan of Paswara village in Meerut, claimed that many people in his village had already stopped sending invitations to BJP leaders to attend functions.

Manoj Malik, who has been associated with the BJP for over two decades, has now decided to stop working for the party.

He said invitations to social gatherings helped public representatives bond with people of their constituency.