India News | SKM Has Appealed to UP Farmers to ‘punish' BJP in Upcoming Polls for Betraying Them: Yogendra Yadav

New Delhi, Feb 3 (PTI) The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has appealed to the farmers in Uttar Pradesh to "punish" the BJP in the upcoming assembly elections for betraying the farmers by not fulfilling their demands, Swaraj India President Yogendra Yadav said on Thursday.

Fifty-seven farmer organisations have supported the call given by the SKM, Yadav said. He, however, clarified that the morcha has nothing to do with seeking votes for any party in the elections.

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SKM, that spearheaded the farmers agitation against new agri laws which were later rolled back, said their remaining demands, including setting up of a committee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) and withdrawal of cases against farmers remain unfulfilled.

"SKM has issued an appeal to farmers in UP to punish the BJP in the upcoming elections for betraying the farmers. The government has not fulfilled its promises. No committee has been formed yet for MSP and neither the cases against farmers have been withdrawn," Yadav said at a press conference here.

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"We will organise press conferences at nine places, including Meerut, Kanpur, Siddharthnagar, Gorakhpur, Meerut, Muradabad, Allahabad and Lucknow in the coming days. Pamphlets containing our appeal will be distributed across UP," he said.

"The SKM has nothing to do with seeking votes for any party. The morcha was and will continue to remain apolitical," he added.

Yadav said the handbills appealing farmers to "punish" the BJP in the UP polls will be distributed by the organisations affiliated to SKM in the villages of the state.

The appeal claimed that the BJP has went back on its promises made to farmers during the 2017 UP Assembly polls.

"It was promised that all loans of the farmers would be waived. But loans only upto Rs 1 lakh of 44 lakh farmers were waived, payment of dues to sugarcane farmers within 14 days did not happen, and instead of cheap and adequate power, electricity rates were raised to be the highest in the country," read the handbill.

The pamphlets carrying the appeal of a "soldier of farmers stir" last year also cited how the centre allegedly went back on its promises that were agreed upon for lifting the year-long siege at Delhi borders in December 2021.

The morcha (siege) was lifted based on Centre's assurance on December 9 letter but many of the demands like removal of Union minister Ajay Mishra, whose son's vehicle mowed down five people, including four farmers, in Lakhimpur, remained unmet, said the SKM leaders.

The press conference was addressed by all the seven members of the SKM's coordination committee.

Asked if the SKM was supporting the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM) in the Punjab assembly polls, Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said, "We are not giving support to anyone."

The SSM, formed by several Punjab-based organisations that were part of the SKM, is contesting the Punjab polls.

"SKM has severed its relation with Sanyukt Samaj Morcha in Punjab because they are contesting elections as a political party," said Joginder Singh Ugrahan, an SKM leader.

Meanwhile, SKM leader Darshan Pal too said that the morcha is not supporting anyone in Punjab.

"We will not allow anyone to use our platform to seek votes in the polls," Yadav said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)