BKU Leader Rakesh Tikait Reacts: Won't Withdraw Agitation Until Farm Laws Repealed By Parliament

Along with MSP, the government should also discuss other issues related to farmers, Tikait said. BKU (Ugrahan) faction welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement to repeal the 3 farm laws 

BKU Leader Rakesh Tikait (File Photo)

New Delhi: Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait, who is at the forefront of the agitation, said on Friday that the farmers’ protest will not end with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to withdraw the three contentious farm laws. He said they would wait until the laws are repealed by Parliament.  

"Along with MSP, the government should also discuss other issues related to farmers," the leader added.

In his address on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, Modi said the three farm laws would be repealed in the ensuing Winter Session of Parliament.

Tikait had earlier asked for a resolution against the three farm laws by November 26, failing which farmers would gather at Delhi protest sites in tractors.

While announcing the decison to repeal the controversial farm laws, PM Modi said: “We must have fallen short somewhere that we were not able to explain to a section of farmers why the three laws were beneficial.”

He added: “We couldn't convince a section of the farmers of the benefits of these farm laws. Many scientists tried to explain to them through various media. We tried to listen to the farmers and their remarks about their issues with the laws.”

Modi said the government  changed old rules to make sure the farmers get the right compensation in extreme situations. "Over Rs 1 lakh crore worth of compensation has been dispensed to small farmers. They have also been given health and insurance benefits. We also transferred Rs 1.62 lakh crore directly to their bank accounts," he said.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Kisan Union's (BKU) Ugrahan faction welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement Friday to repeal the three contentious farm laws. 

"It is a good move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Gurupurab," Joginder Singh Ugrahan, the leader of BKU's Ugrahan faction, told PTI.

On the PM’s appeal to the protesting farmers to return to their homes, Ugrahan said: "Farmers' unions will sit together and decide the future course of action."

BKU (Ugrahan), the largest among all protesting farmers unions, are protesting at the Tikri border. It has a sizeable presence across Punjab, which is going to elections early next year.

Farmers unions have been protesting at the Delhi borders since last year to demand repeal of three farm laws.