Chandigarh: A group of 22 farmers' unions that banded together last year under the Samyukt Kisan Morcha banner to protest the Centre's three agricultural legislation, have come together to form a political party that would run in the 2022 Punjab Assembly election.
The party has been named Samyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM). A decision in this regard was taken by representatives of these organisations in Chandigarh earlier today.
Talking to reporters here, farmer leader Harmeet Singh Kadian said the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha has been set up for fighting the assembly polls in Punjab due early next year.
These 22 farm bodies were among 32 farmer organisations in Punjab which participated in the over-a-year-long protest against the three Central farm laws.
SKM Won't Run In Punjab Elections 2022
The news of the farmers' protest taking a political turn comes only hours after the Samyukt Kisan Morcha ruled out running in the Punjab election.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the umbrella body of farmers unions that led the protest against the agricultural laws, said Saturday that it will not run in the 2022 Punjab election and that no one or organisation should use its name, or those of its member groups, for electoral purposes.
"The SKM - which is a platform of more than 400 different ideological organisations across the country, is formed only for the issues of farmers. There is no call for boycott of elections and even no understanding of contesting elections..." a statement was quoted by NDTV in its report.
The farmers' association said it was founded "by the people to seek their rights from the government," and that the effort had been put on hold when the agricultural laws were repealed.
Farm Laws Agitation
The agricultural legislation, which was approved in September last year, sparked nationwide outrage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, said last month that the three laws will be repealed, barely three months before the UP and Punjab elections.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh (as well as Haryana and Rajasthan) have been camping on the Delhi borders since November last year as part of the protest. The BJP, which is in power at the federal level and in Uttar Pradesh, and is attempting to dislodge the Congress from Punjab, has received widespread opposition from people in both states.