SKM announces 'Mission UP, Uttarakhand', threatens to hold protests in Lucknow akin to Delhi stir
Lucknow, Jul 26: The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, spearheading the farmers' campaign against the Centre's three agriculture laws, on Monday announced its "Mission UP and Uttarakhand", saying it will turn Lucknow into Delhi and hold a 'maha rally' in Muzaffarnagar.
"The farmers' agitation will not end till the Government of India withdraws these three black laws. We want to tell the government here (UP) as well to work properly otherwise our agitation is intensifying and Lucknow will also be turned into Delhi and all roads leading to the state capital from all sides will be sealed," Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait told reporters here. But, he did not elaborate on when the planned agitation will begin in Lucknow.
This mission will start with a 'maha rally' of farmers from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh on September 5 and mahapanchayats will be held at all the divisional headquarters in the state with an aim to take the eight-month-old agitation to the village level, Tikait said.
He said, "The historic farmers' agitation for the repeal of three anti-farmer laws and demanding legal guarantee of the minimum support price has completed eight months. In these months, the movement, which became a symbol of self-respect and unity of the farmers, is now a movement to save democracy and save the country."
In a statement, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) said it has decided to start the next phase of the movement as Mission Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to make it more intensive and effective.
The objective of this mission would be that like Punjab and Haryana, every village in UP and Uttarakhand will be involved in the movement, it said.
The SKM leaders, who addressed a joint press conference, demanded making all toll plazas free in UP and Uttarakhand, organising protests at commercial establishments of capitalists and boycotting the programs of the BJP and its allies.
Tikait said, "Now, Lucknow will be turned into Delhi. Like in Delhi, where all roads are sealed by farmers from all sides, in Lucknow too farmers will surround the city from all sides. We will devise our strategy for this and make preparations for it."
He said a series of meetings, visits and rallies would be started all over UP to make this mission work.
The SKM Has divided the movement into four phases.
In the first phase, contact and coordination will be established with the organisations active in the movement in the states and in the second phase there will be division-wise farmers' convention and district-wise preparatory meeting.
In the third phase, a "historic" mahapanchayat of farmers from across the country would be organised in Muzaffarnagar on September 5 and in the fourth phase, a mahapanchayat would be organised at all the divisional headquarters.
The SKM has also decided that along with national issues, local issues of farmers will also be taken up in this mission.
The farmer leaders addressing the press conference said the aim of the mission would also be to challenge the corporate power and "anti-farmer" BJP and its allies at every step, adding that it is the responsibility of the state and its people to save farming and farmers from the corporate houses and their political middlemen.
Other leaders including Yogendra Yadav of the Jai Kisan Andolan, Shiv Kumar Kakkaji of the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh, Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Ashish Mittal were also present during the press conference.
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BJP worker’s 16-year-old son allegedly casts eight votes in Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad; Video viral
Lucknow (Farrukhabad): A viral video has surfaced showing a 16-year-old son of a BJP worker allegedly casting eight votes to the saffron party during the ongoing general elections in Uttar Pradesh. The video has sparked controversy, and the opposition has urged for prompt action from the Election Commission of India, reports scroll.in.
The video shared by the Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on micro-blogging site ‘X’, showed the youngster recording himself while casting multiple times in a series of instances. The incident reportedly took place in Khiri Pamaran village, which falls under the Aliganj Assembly constituency within the Farrukhabad parliamentary seat. Mukesh Rajput, the sitting MP, is the BJP candidate in this constituency. Polling in Farrukhabad occurred on May 13 during the fourth phase of the general election.
In the viral video, the youngster is seen casting eight votes in total, all for the BJP, one by one with different clippings.
The youngster in the video has been identified as Rajan Singh Thakur, confirmed his father, Anil Singh Thakur to the Scroll.in. Anil Singh Thakur is the gram pradhan (village head) of Khiri Pamaran and a member of the BJP.
Anil defending his son told the Scroll that the ‘Video misrepresented his son,’ and claimed that the voting was done when the machine was being tested in some instances and other clipping of him voting on behalf of mentally and physically disabled voters was merged and made into a video.
Despite the Anil's caims, the video has drawn significant criticism. Subhash Chandra Prajapati, the additional district magistrate of Farrukhabad, confirmed to the Scroll that the administration will file a case soon. He mentioned that the returning officer is investigating the matter following a directive from the chief electoral officer in Lucknow.
The opposition has been vocal in its criticism, with Akhilesh Yadav demanding action from the Election Commission. In his social media post, Yadav accused the BJP of undermining the electoral process and described the party's booth committee as a "loot committee." The Congress party also called on the Election Commission to take action, in a ‘X’ post the party wrote, “Dear Election Commission…are you watching..a boy is voting 8-8 times ... .at least wake up now.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, took to ‘X’ to express, “Fearing and seeing their defeat, the BJP is attempting to undermine democracy by pressuring government machinery to deny the mandate. The Congress expects all officers performing election duties to remember their constitutional responsibilities despite any pressure from those in power. Otherwise, once the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc government is formed, actions will be taken to ensure that anyone will think ten times before violating their 'Oath to the Constitution'."
Following the video's circulation, Naval Kishor Shakya, the Samajwadi Party candidate in Farrukhabad, filed a complaint with the district election officer. Shakya's complaint alleges that Rajan Singh Thakur cast votes after snatching voter information slips from other voters and that he was assisted by Dinesh Thakur, the local police station's station house officer. Shakya has called for re-polling at the affected polling center.
In a related incident earlier in May, Gujarat Police arrested two BJP workers for allegedly casting bogus votes and live-streaming the act on social media in the Dahod constituency. The Election Commission conducted re-polling at the affected booth following the incident.
The opposition INDIA bloc, including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, has repeatedly accused the Election Commission of failing to take prompt action against election model code of conduct violations.
अपनी हार सामने देख कर भाजपा जनादेश को झुठलाने के लिए सरकारी तंत्र पर दबाव बना कर लोकतंत्र को लूटना चाहती है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 19, 2024
कांग्रेस चुनावी ड्यूटी कर रहे सभी अधिकारियों से यह अपेक्षा करती है कि वो सत्ता के दबाव के सामने अपनी संवैधानिक ज़िम्मेदारी न भूलें।
वरना INDIA की सरकार बनते ही ऐसी… https://t.co/fk4wXL8QZy
