SKM to meet today, focus on restarting the farmers’ protest

While analysts say the SKM faces an uphill task, a member of the group’s decision-making panel said the farmers’ goals were not about just one set of elections, although it campaigned to defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

After a setback in the just-concluded assembly elections, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) — a farmers’ platform that opposed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — will hold its first deliberations in the national capital on Monday to discuss future plans, especially to restart its agitation.

SKM’s immediate concern is the withdrawal of all cases lodged against farmers. (HT photo)

While analysts say the SKM faces an uphill task, a member of the group’s decision-making panel said the farmers’ goals were not about just one set of elections, although it campaigned to defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

In bellwether Uttar Pradesh, the BJP blunted the massive farmers’ uprising, comfortably winning a re-election, though with a lower tally. The polls in India’s most populous state is said to influence national political trends.

“Whatever party is in power, our agitation will continue till our demands are met. I don’t want to talk about the UP elections. It’s over. But 100%, the agitation will continue. I am with the SKM,” Rakesh Tikait, leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), a farmers’ group, and a key face of the agitation, said on Sunday.

Farmers feared the laws would leave them vulnerable to exploitation by large corporations who could dictate prices. The government argued the reforms were needed to boost investments in agriculture, still India’s largest employer.

Although the impact of the farmers’ campaign was limited, it did manage to diminish the BJP’s tally, bolster the opposition Samajwadi Party’s seats and led to some prominent BJP contenders losing at the ballots, farm leaders said.