News Analysis India

Tag: Jayant Chaudhary

  • BJP, RLD supporters clash in UP’s Muzaffarnagar in presence of union minister

    By PTI
    MEERUT: A clash broke out between supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal in Muzaffarnagar’s Soram village on Monday when Union minister Sanjeev Balyan turned up there for a programme.

    Local police station incharge Sanjeev Kumar told PTI that three people were injured in the clash.

    A war of words also broke out between BJP leader and Union minister Sanjeev Balyan and RLD vice-president Jayant Chaudhary over the clash.

    The clash took place when Union minister Balyan was in Soram to pay homage to a deceased local but supporters of his party and the RLD had an argument over the ongoing farmers’ protest against new central farm laws.

    “Clash between BJP politicians and farmers in Soram village, several injured. If there’s no talk in favour of farmers, at least have a good attitude towards them. Respect the farmers! Now farmers will have to tolerate hooliganism of government’s representatives who are telling pros of the new laws,” Chaudhary tweeted.

    Responding to the charges, Balyan said he was in the village to pay homage to a deceased local.

    “Some five to six Lok Dal politicians started misbehaving and hurling abuses. Some locals intervened and sent these people away,” he tweeted in Hindi.

    “The way Lok Dal party is trying to disrupt harmony by hiding behind farmers is condemnable,” he added.

    Soram in Muzaffarnagar is the epicentre of the influential Balyan Khap, which is headed by Bharatiya Kisan Union president Naresh Tikait.

    Tikait’s brother and BKU spokesperson Rakesh Tikait, meanwhile, appealed to people to maintain harmony.

    “If a public representative comes to your village, do question him but keep it in a dignified manner. Everybody has a right to put forth their views in a democracy and a public representative must also keep public’s sentiments in mind,” Tikait said in a statement.

    He said the government should consider farmers’ request.

  • Centre using ‘divide and rule policy’ to suppress farmers’ protest, says RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary

    By PTI
    NOIDA: The Centre is using the “divide and rule policy” used by the British to suppress the ongoing farmers’ protest against the new agri laws, Rashtriya Lok Dal vice-president Jayant Chaudhary said on Thursday.

    The agitation was first dubbed as a “Khalistani movement” and then called a “Jats’ movement” when it is the fight of all farmers, Chaudhary said while addressing a ‘mahapanchayat’ in western Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district.

    This was the 11th such congregation of farmers in the region amid the agitation against three farm laws enacted by the government in September last year.

    Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chaudhary said he “is such a strong prime minister that he is now standing against farmers”.

    The RLD leader alleged the government is trying to divide farmers to end the protest.

    “They are using the divide and rule policy which was used by the British to suppress India’s freedom movement,” he said.

    “First they called this a Khalistani movement, then they said this is a protest only by the Jat community when the reality is that it is the fight of all farmers in the country,” he added.

    Chaudhary also hit out at the government over the registration of FIRs against journalists, activists and artistes in different parts of the country for criticising it.

    He called on the gathering to support the farmers’ protests at Delhi’s border points of Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi’s border points for over two months to press for the repeal of the three agri laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price.

    The RLD is holding a series of farmer meetings across Uttar Pradesh, especially in the western part of the state, to reach out to the public over a host of issues, including those faced by farmers.

  • ‘If PM had shed some tears on death of farmers…’: Jayant Chaudhary slams Modi

    By PTI
    ALIGARH: RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi getting emotional in the Parliament on Tuesday, saying had he shed some tears on the deaths of farmers during their protest, the situation would not have come to such a pass.

    Addressing a farmer ‘mahapanchayat’ (large congregation) near Iglas in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district, Chaudhary said the farmers’ protest had now turned into a people’s movement that was gathering momentum with each passing day, adding that there was no turning back.

    Pointing out to Modi’s speech, Chaudhary said: “If the PM had shed some tears on the death of large number of farmers during the farmers protest, the situation would not have come to such a pass”.

    Modi broke down several times in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while reminiscing about his close association with Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, whose term is coming to an end next week.

    Chaudhary said they were are not against modernisation of the farm sector.

    READ| PM Modi bids tearful adieu to outgoing Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Nabi Azad

    “Every sector needs reforms, but the thrust of such reforms should take into consideration that the size of farm holdings in India is shrinking with the passage of time,” he said.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi’s borders since November-end demanding a repeal of the contentious central farm laws, which they fear would pave the way for the dismantling of the regulated wholesale markets and the minimum support price system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.

    Reforms can only be meaningful if the genuine interests and ground realities of the farming community are factored in before launching the measures, the RLD leader said.

    Chaudhary said the government was now thinking of selling the public sector undertakings (PSUs) like the Life Insurance Corporation as part of the unprecedented disinvestment drive.

    He warned that the relentless disinvestment of profit-making PSUs would totally ruin the country’s economy and the only a handful of corporates would gain.

    The RLD leader said by drastically cutting the outlay of the mid-day meal programme, the Modi government had clearly defined its priorities.

  • ‘If PM had shed some tears on death of farmers…’: Jayant Chaudhary slams Modi

    By PTI
    ALIGARH: RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi getting emotional in the Parliament on Tuesday, saying had he shed some tears on the deaths of farmers during their protest, the situation would not have come to such a pass.

    Addressing a farmer ‘mahapanchayat’ (large congregation) near Iglas in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district, Chaudhary said the farmers’ protest had now turned into a people’s movement that was gathering momentum with each passing day, adding that there was no turning back.

    Pointing out to Modi’s speech, Chaudhary said: “If the PM had shed some tears on the death of large number of farmers during the farmers protest, the situation would not have come to such a pass”.

    Modi broke down several times in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while reminiscing about his close association with Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, whose term is coming to an end next week.

    Chaudhary said they were are not against modernisation of the farm sector.

    READ| PM Modi bids tearful adieu to outgoing Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Nabi Azad

    “Every sector needs reforms, but the thrust of such reforms should take into consideration that the size of farm holdings in India is shrinking with the passage of time,” he said.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi’s borders since November-end demanding a repeal of the contentious central farm laws, which they fear would pave the way for the dismantling of the regulated wholesale markets and the minimum support price system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.

    Reforms can only be meaningful if the genuine interests and ground realities of the farming community are factored in before launching the measures, the RLD leader said.

    Chaudhary said the government was now thinking of selling the public sector undertakings (PSUs) like the Life Insurance Corporation as part of the unprecedented disinvestment drive.

    He warned that the relentless disinvestment of profit-making PSUs would totally ruin the country’s economy and the only a handful of corporates would gain.

    The RLD leader said by drastically cutting the outlay of the mid-day meal programme, the Modi government had clearly defined its priorities.

  • Nails on roads for farmers will turn out to be nails in ‘political coffin’ of BJP: Jayant Chaudhary

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Asserting that farmers will not settle for anything less than the repeal of the new farm laws, RLD vice president Jayant Chaudhary on Friday said the government’s “strong arm tactics” will not work against the tillers and the nails being laid on roads for them would turn out to be the nails in the “political coffin” of the BJP.

    Chaudhary, who has participated in a number of ‘kisaan panchayats’ in western Uttar Pradesh and is campaigning aggressively against the Centre’s farm laws, said the government must immediately withdraw the legislations and draft them afresh after taking the consent of farmers.

    In an interview with PTI, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) vice president alleged that the current leadership of the country is far removed from sentiments and is not perturbed by riots, deaths or big agitations as it is “cocooned” in its own bubble.

    “It is a totalitarian administration. They are not even listening to their own political people on the ground. If you speak to BJP MLAs or MPs off the record, they are not happy and they can feel the angst rising in the people of India, in the common man who voted for (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi,” the former MP said.

    Chaudhary said he has been to almost every ‘dharna’ site of the farmers, has sat among them, spoken to them at different levels, addressed ‘kisaan panchayats’, and feels that the farmers have formed an emotional connect cutting across different states like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

    “There is unity building, and I don’t think that these farmers are going to take anything less than what they have come this far for (which is repeal of the laws),” he said.

    The farmers have left their villages, walked for miles, have faced so many hardships with “about 150 of them even losing their lives” and they are still not willing to back down even in the face of the government hardening its stance, the RLD leader said.

    The farmers’ stance is very clear and they are saying that these laws are not made for them and they will not accept them, he said.

    It is always the prerogative of the government of the day to make laws but ultimately it is the people’s will that must prevail, Chaudhary asserted.

    WATCH

    Asked about the multi-layered barricading and iron nails studded on roads at protest sites on Delhi’s borders, he said, “These are not nails being put on the roads going to Delhi, these are nails being put into the political coffin that is being made for the BJP.”

    “This is a very hurtful image that has gone out. These are the people who freed Delhi from the British, who fought against the Mughals, whenever there was a crisis in Delhi, it was the farmers close to Delhi in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh that were first there.

    Today, the Kisan Ghat (memorial of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh), Parliament and Rajghat are in Delhi, and you are forbidding these farmers from even entering Delhi,” he said.

    On the government’s offer to suspend the farm laws for 18 months, he said the offer has not found favour with either the protesting farmer organisations or with the farmers themselves.

    The questions the farmers are asking is why 18 months suspension and why the Supreme Court is being involved in the work of Parliament or the government, he said.

    After 18 months again the same problems will arise and the government will say “we have given an undertaking in the Supreme Court, so therefore, we cannot do anything about it”, Chaudhary said.

    “So in a way it will create disharmony between the judiciary and the role of the executive in Parliament,” he said.

    “My suggestion is that they (government) should completely do away with these laws and communicate more effectively, reach out to the farmers, if they feel there is a reform that is needed, take their consent and then draft anew,” he said.

    People are not liking the government’s approach in dealing with the agitation, Chaudhary asserted.

    “These strong arm tactics — please use these strong arm tactics with the nation’s enemy China or with other countries you are in conflict with, do not use these tactics with the citizens of India,” the former MP said.

    Asked about his father and RLD chief Ajit Singh announcing support to the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) in their protest, Chaudhary said it is not just an alliance with the Tikaits (Naresh and Rakesh), but is an expression of solidarity with farmers.

    “We are facing the regime of Yogi Adityanath (in UP) where any sort of dissent is crushed by immoral use of power.

    That is why Chaudhary Ajit Singh reached out to the Tikaits and said ‘we are with you, don’t back down.

    That had a huge impact and that has led a lot of people to come out in support,” he said.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh demanding the rollback of the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations.

    However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.

  • Government’s ‘efforts’ to crush farmers’ stir has only strengthened them: RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary

    By PTI
    MATHURA: RLD national vice president Jayant Chaudhary on Saturday alleged that the government’s “efforts” to crush the farmers’ movement has only strengthened their unity.

    “The farmers’ stir would not be called off unless the three farm laws are repealed,” Chaudhary told reporters at Mathura’s Bajna town.

    He alleged that “after efforts of the government to crush farmers’ agitation, unity of farmers has further strengthened.”

    Later, addressing a Kisan Mahaanchayat at Morki Inter College in Bajna, he called on farmers to use “Vote Ki Chot (their franchise)” to foil the evil design of the state government.

    The Yogi Adityanath government should be taught a lesson in the forthcoming panchayat elections, he said.

    He called on farmers to participate in ongoing farmers agitation at Gazipur and Palwal and condemned the lathicharge by the police on farmers at Gazipur, terming it illegal.

    Jayant also announced the start of the programme “Chalo Gaon Ki Or (Move towards villages) from February 12.

    At the mahapanchayat, Samajwadi party leader Sanjai Lathar said the BJP-led central government is mistaken if it considers farmer leader Rakesh Tikait alone.

    “Farmers of the country are behind Tikait,” he said.

    “The BJP has in a planned manner defamed the peaceful tractor rally of farmers in Delhi on January 26 by sending its activists in it for violence,” the SP leader alleged.

    The tears that rolled down the eyes of Tikait are the tears of farmers.

    The government is living in a fools paradise if it considers that by adopting foul means, the agitation may be foiled, RLD state vice president Kunvar Narendra Singh said.

    In the mahapanchayat, a call to farmers to join in the farmers’ agitation in Delhi was also given by over one dozen leaders including former minister Tej Pal Singh.

  • Farm laws: RLD chief Ajit Singh speaks to Tikait brothers, announces support to BKU

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh has announced support to the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), the members of which are staging a protest against the Centre’s new farm laws at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border.

    The former Union minister has spoken to BKU president Naresh Tikait and spokesperson Rakesh Tikait, RLD vice president and his son Jayant Chaudhary said.

    “It is a matter of life and death for farmers, but do not worry. All have to stay together, united in this — this is Chaudhary saahab’s  (Ajit Singh’s) message,” the RLD vice president said in a tweet in Hindi.

    The Tikait brothers, sons of legendary farm leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, are leading the BKU, the members of which are camping at the UP Gate (Ghazipur border) for two months now demanding a rollback of the contentious farm laws brought by the Centre in September last year.

    The RLD, which was virtually wiped out in the last Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, was founded by Singh, son of Chaudhary Charan Singh, a former prime minister and a farmer leader from western Uttar Pradesh.