Farmers Movement had Impact on UP Elections : Rakesh Tikait

In Western Uttar Pradesh, out of 19, the BJP won only six and of these six seats, out of which three seats are largely urban seats.

Farmer union leader Rakesh Tikait on Friday welcomed the results of the 2022 Assembly elections in five states, saying that the decision of the people is paramount.

“In the great festival of democracy, the decision of the people is paramount. The farmers’ movement showed its effect. We hope that all the governments that have been formed will work for to uplift farmers and labourers in their respective states. Congratulations to all on the victory,” Tikait tweeted.

Tikait’s Bharatiya Kisan Union is a part of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha that spearheaded the year-long farm protests along the borders of Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh. The farmer leader had been vocal against the Bharatiya Janata Party, which he had supported in the 2017 Assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The Bharatiya Janata Party managed to slide over the anti-incumbency in four of states that went to polls, especially the most crucial Uttar Pradesh.

According to the wire, the farmers’ movement did manage to reverse some of these trends. The BJP saw a near total washout in the recently-concluded assembly elections in the two districts that were most affected by the sectarian violence of 2013.

In Western Uttar Pradesh, the farmers’ movement was primarily concentrated and found the bulk of its support in four Jat-dominated districts in the sugarcane belt – Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Baghpat and, to a lesser extent, Meerut.

Together, these districts account for 19 seats. Of these 19, the BJP won only six and of these six seats, three (Meerut South, Meerut Cantonment and Muzaffarnagar) are largely urban seats, where the impact of the farmers’ movement was minimal.

In Muzaffarnagar, it lost five out of six seats, winning only the urban seat. In Shamli, the BJP saw a complete washout, where it lost all three seats. In Meerut, too, it won only three of seven seats.

It won all eight seats in Lakhimpur Kheri, which witnessed violence with union minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra allegedly mowing down four farmers and a journalist.

The eight seats in Lakhimpur Kheri are Palia, Nighasan, Gola Gokarnath, Sri Nagar, Dhaurahra, Lakhimpur, Kasta, and Mohammadi.

The clean sweep of these seats has raised eyebrows, given the strength of anti-BJP emotions in the aftermath of the farmers being mowed down.

Did the Farmers massacre affect Lakhimpur Kheri Elections?

The farmers were part of a larger group protesting the central government’s controversial farm laws (which have since been scrapped) when they were hit from behind by a car allegedly driven by Ashish Mishra.

The incident was flagged by opposition parties to underline their criticism of the BJP as ‘anti-poor’ and ‘anti-farmer’, but it appears the critiques did not stick.

The Samajwadi Party had hoped to ride the anti-BJP wave generated by farmers’ protests and anger over rising prices and unemployment, but could not do so.

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March 2024
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