Tractors to march to Parliament on November 29 over MSP issue: BKU chief Rakesh Tikait

Just a few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the three controversial farm laws will be repealed, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait has stated that tractors will march to the Parliament in Delhi on November 29 over issues regarding the minimum support price (MSP).

The BKU chief said that around 60 tractors will be marching to the Parliament in the National Capital to press the government for a statutory guarantee of MSP for crops among other issues. He further said that their purpose is not to block the roads of Delhi.

Tikait said, “On November 29, 60 tractors will head to Parliament for the tractor march. The tractors will go through the roads, which have been opened by the government. We were accused of keeping the roads blocked. We did not block the road. Blocking the roads is not our movement. Perhaps, our movement is to talk to the government. We will straight go to the Parliament.”

Rakesh Tikait’s decision to conduct the tractor march in Delhi comes just a few days after PM Modi announced the repealing of the three farm laws, which ended up triggering a nationwide protest and a lot of backlash from farmers of several northern states.

The BKU leader further said that, unlike last time, over a thousand people will be participating in the tractor march this time. He said, “We are awaiting the government`s response on MSP. Moreover, the incidents that happened in the past one year, in which 750 farmers died, the government should take responsibility for that.”

Earlier today, the Union Cabinet approved the process to repeal the three farm laws that sparked a major political row. The formal announcement will be made in the Winter Session of the Parliament, which will commence on November 29 and is expected to continue till December 23.

Apart from the BKU, Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions, also said that they will be organizing tractor rallies and other protests across Delhi on November 26, to mark the struggles of all the farmers who sat in for the protest.

SKM, in an official statement, said, “Preparations are underway for marking November 26, 2021, on the completion of 12 long and continuous months of struggle by lakhs of farmers in India – Thousands of farmers are expected to come to the morcha sites on that day around Delhi.”