No need to float separate farmers’ party; focus is to defeat BJP, say Tikait, Hannan Mollah & Medha Patkar

When asked, if the farmers’ protest is a non-political movement, Mollah replied, “SKM has campaigned against the BJP and will campaign against the BJP government in the forthcoming assembly polls.”Calling the Modi government “stooge of big corporates,” Mollah said the NDA government has enough money to write off lakhs of crores of bank loan, but they do not have money to pay the MSP to farmers.Speaking to NH, Mollah vowed to give “vote ki chot (damage by votes)” to the Modi government. The AIKS leader said, “Modi only understands the language of the votes…farmers’ movement will continue till the government passes the bill in parliament and make MSP a legal right”.Similarly, Medha Patkar, the face of India’s longest anti-displacement movement – Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) viewed floating an independent party as not a ‘fructuous idea’ at this juncture.However, she said, “If any who wish to form a separate political party to push for the demands, can do so”.Explaining why the farmers movement is not limited to the demands for the withdrawal of the three farm laws or making MSP a legal right, Patkar said, “The idea of development propagated by the media and the consecutive government at the Centre is essentially anti-poor and pro-corporate.”



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