New Delhi: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait, at the forefront of the farmer's agitation against three agricultural laws, on Monday, while giving an ultimatum to the Union government said that protest will be escalated if the centre doesn't scrap the three farm laws till November 26, 2021.
Tikait claims that if the government fails to meet the deadline then from November 27 onwards farmers will march towards Delhi's border via tractors and strengthen the tents that had been removed by the Delhi Police.
The BKU leader tweeted, "The central government has time till November 26, after that from November 27, farmers will reach the border at the movement sites around Delhi by tractors from villages and strengthen the tents at the movement and movement site with solid fortifications."
Earlier in reaction to the centre's decision to remove barricades from the protest site, Farm Union leader Tikait said that if the government tried to forcibly remove the farmers from the borders they will turn the government offices across the country into "Galla mandi."
Since November last year, farmers mostly from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh have been demanding that the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.
They fear the three contentious farm laws would do away with the Minimum Support Price system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations, concerns dismissed by the union government.
Several rounds of talks between the farmers and the government have failed to break the deadlock.