GHAZIABAD: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said on Saturday his outfit would urge people not to vote for BJP in the assembly elections that are slated in UP next year.
Tikait made the remarks while addressing a gathering of farmers who had come to UP Gate to mark seven months of their protest against the three laws.
The BKU leader, who has led the agitation on the premise that it will always be apolitical in nature, clarified he would not advise people on which party to vote for but appeal to them not to elect BJP this time.
“The agitation is still apolitical.
We will just ask people not to vote BJP.
We will not canvass for any other party.
We did the same thing before the West Bengal assembly elections and the panchayat polls here.
Our approach is always apolitical,” he added.
Meanwhile, there was tension at UP Gate following social media rumours that Tikait had been arrested in Delhi.
The BKU leader later dubbed it “the handiwork of some mischievous elements trying to fan unrest”.
“Actually, we had decided to submit a memorandum to the governor and lieutenant governor of Delhi on Saturday.
But when our representative went to meet the LG, they were denied permission.
So, they sat in protest outside his office.
Police later took them into custody, and someone floated rumours that I have been arrested,” Tikait clarified.
The BKU representatives were later released, he added.
Speaking about the future of the agitation, Tikait asserted that their protest would continue until the government stepped back on its stance on the three laws.
“We will keep organising protests at the borders of Delhi.
According to the plan, farmers from Shamli and Baghpat will take out a tractor rally to the Singhu border on July 9.
On July 24, a similar tractor rally will be taken out from Bijnor and Meerut to UP Gate,” the BKU leader said.
The number of protesters at UP Gate has swelled considerably over the past two weeks as farmers have gathered from villages at the end of the harvesting season and in the wake of declining Covid cases.
“This government is employing every trick to break our resolve.
But the protest will go on as long as it is required,” said Krishna Tyagi, a farmer from Muzaffarnagar..