Cracks in farmer unions as key leader charts own agenda
One prominent leader who is part of the platform of farm unions leading the ongoing agitation against a set of agricultural laws appears to have spelt out a separate agenda for the protests, including talking to some opposition political parties, even as other unions say they want to keep the protests apolitical.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a platform of nearly 400 farm organisations leading the protests, on Monday said that efforts by Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni to organise an “all-party meeting” on the farm laws were not authorised by it, and did not figure in its official agenda.
Chaduni told HT that he would make his stand clear before the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, declining to elaborate. His spokesperson Sandeep Topra said Chaduni did not violate any protocol of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha. “If political parties reach out and come to Chaduni for a meeting, how can he say no?”
A platform of farm unions leading the ongoing agitation against a set of agricultural laws is staring at a split, with a prominent leader spelling out a separate agenda for the protests that includes talking to key political parties. Other unions say they want to keep the protests apolitical.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a platform of nearly 400 farm organisations leading the protests, on Monday said efforts by Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni to organise an all-party meeting on the farm laws were not “authorised”and this didn’t figure in its official agenda. The farm unions are on a strike since November to demand the scrapping of three pro-reform farm laws they say will hurt their livelihoods, setting off a key political challenge to the Modi government.
A team of 41 representatives of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha has been participating in negotiations with the Union government, represented by Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal and Som Parkash. Chaduni has been a part of this team.
Farmers want three farm laws approved by Parliament in September repealed but the government has rejected the demand. Nine rounds of talks so far have failed to break the deadlock.
“The Samyukt Kisan Morcha disassociates itself from the activities of Gurnam Singh Chaduni. His decision for an allparty meeting was never approved or authorised. It is his personal activity,” Hannan Mollah, a key member of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s “general body” said.
Mollah said all protest activities and agenda related to the movement against farm laws could only be executed after being unanimously passed by the working committee of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha.
Chaduni told HT that he would make his stand clear before the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, declining to elaborate, referring this reporter to his spokesperson. Chaduni’s spokesperson Sandeep Topra said Chaduni had not violated any protocol of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha. “If political parties reach out and come to Chaduni for a meeting, how can he say no? He hasn’t shared any stage with political parties.”
According to Mollah, farm unions had unanimously decided to keep their agitation “apolitical” and therefore Chaduni’s move was “not acceptable”.
On January 17, Chaduni, who is an influential farm leader in Haryana and Punjab, had met leaders of the opposition parties, including the Congress, AAP and Shiromani Akali Dal in Delhi in an attempt to forge a larger political alliance against the farm laws.
THE SAMYUKT KISAN MORCHA SAID BKU LEADER CHADUNI’S DECISION FOR ALL PARTY MEET WAS NOT APPROVED