Opposition is weak, time they started working, says Rakesh Tikait

'People are not voting for the BJP, but still it is winning elections', said Tikait

Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) member Rakesh Tikait has not minced his words since he took on the government on the three farm laws. In a conversation with Nitin Kumar, Tikait takes a dig at the Opposition and says rumours about the movement tapering off are inaccurate and that the fight will continue till the battle is won. Edited excerpts:

The Uttar Pradesh elections are just four months away and despite the year-long agitation, the SKM has not delivered any fruitful results for the farmers so far. The demand to sack Minister of State for Home Ministry Ajay Mishra Teni is also being ignored. Do you think people will lose faith in the SKM and this movement because of this?

Yes, people will lose faith, but not in the SKM or this movement, but in the government. The BJP can shove aside these issues but we will not. The Supreme Court is supervising the Teni affair. It recently reprimanded the UP government for its incompetence and delay in the investigation. We are awaiting its decision in the matter.

Fear of the administration is keeping people away from the farmers’ protest rallies. Our movement will gain momentum as soon as elections approach. We have asked political parties to become the face of the farmers’ movement. The party which becomes their face will get their support.

Has the Opposition been able to champion the farmers’ cause?

The Opposition is weak. I have talked to them and urged them to work hard.

Will the Opposition be able to challenge UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the upcoming elections?

This I can’t say. People are not voting for the BJP, but still it is winning elections. In the UP polls also, people are not going to vote for the BJP but it might win. 

So you think the electronic voting machines are being tampered with? 

It’s not me but the people are saying this. 

Who do you think is the main opposition in UP?

In the ring, everyone is a good fighter. Nobody knows who will hold the government by its horns.

Why do you think the government is not seeking Teni’s resignation?

The government is considering the pros and cons of his resignation. He is not being removed because of his caste.

Do you think that by not removing Teni, the BJP is trying to consolidate its Brahmin vote bank, because the community was at loggerheads with the right-wing party due to allegations that the Yogi government is anti-Brahmin?

That I can’t say. I stay out of caste matters.  

You have said reservation should be on economic lines and not caste.

There are poor people from every caste and they are the ones who need reservation benefits.

The majority of the scheduled castes don’t have landholdings like the other backward classes and general castes. They are either labourers or artisans. How will they come into the mainstream without reservation?

Labourers (including scheduled castes and non-scheduled castes) have entered the mainstream market economy. Today, out of 100 people who buy bricks from a factory, just seven are farmers. The remaining 93 are labourers. It shows that labourers are progressing. So, it is the farmers who are poor today, not labourers.

If so, then why should labourers join your cause and this movement?

Farmers cannot move without labourers. This fight is for them. It is a fight against hunger, to stop traders/factory owners from sucking the life of labourers.

After the gruesome murder of a protester at the Singhu border, you raised questions on the role of the intelligence/Haryana Police at protest sites. Why do you always target the government even if it is not involved in any way?

Who says the government was not involved in it? This was the Indian government’s plot. This was not a single incident, there are a lot of such incidents. They will continue doing such acts. 

But the SKM also has volunteers who check ID cards and keep an eye on protest sites. What were they doing then?

The accused have been arrested. The intelligence should have caught them. They did not do so because it was a planned act.

You say they were arrested but what about the garlands and reception they got before that?

We do not have any relation with this. They have said they were not related to the SKM in any way. We have courts and a constitution in this country and the courts will do justice now. 

This country runs on Risk and Krishi paddhati. If you touch any of it, there will be repercussions. Who can question religious matters?

Then why were people with weapons allowed to come near the protests?

If carrying a sword is illegal, then the government should stop it. The government should make a law on it.

People are questioning your decision of not going to meet the grieving family of the Dalit farmer Lakhbir Singh, who was killed at the protest site?

I cannot go to Punjab. The SKM has its Punjab unit, which will look into this matter. I will go to Darbar Sahib after winning this battle. That is why I haven’t gone.

But no leader from the SKM visited Lakhbir’s home.

If the SKM goes to meet Lakhbir’s family or seeks compensation, it could send the message that it was involved in the incident. 

Isn’t going to meet a grieving family, which has lost its sole earning member in the farmers’ protests, more important than waiting for victory in this movement and going to the Darbar Sahib? 

I will not go to any controversial place. 

But Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan went. 

We sent him and also made arrangements for his conversation with Nihangs.