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Published 17:02 IST, February 5th 2021

'No Chakka-Jam in Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand, apart from Delhi', says Rakesh Tikait

As farmers prepare for pan-India Chakka Jam, there will no 3 hour-roadblock in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand apart Delhi on Saturday, announced Rakesh Tikait

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As farmers prepare for pan-India Chakka Jam, there will no 3 hour-roadblock in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand apart Delhi on Saturday, announced BKU spokesperson Rakesh Tikait. While Tikait has claimed that the reason for not having a chakka-jam in the two states is that those farmers can be called to Delhi at any time, incidentally, sugar-cane farmers have decided not to participate in the movement - opting to issue a memorandum to the state government detailing their demands. The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha - the unions protesting at Delhi borders have called for an all-India roadblock on national and state highways from 12 noon to 3 PM.

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Feb 6 Chakka Jam

As detailed by Tikait, the 3-hour roadblock would be held around NCR in Rajasthan, Haryana and the rest of the country including the southern states, but not in Delhi amid high security and fortification of Delhi's borders.  He added that farmers will provide food and water to people stuck in traffic, while explaining to them 'what the Govt was doing to them'. He said, "Two tractors will come from villages and they will stay here for 5 days. Then they will leave and the other two tractors will replace them." Reports state that there is growing resentment against the BJP among Jat farmers from Western UP, who had voted for the Modi government in 2019. With most panchayats boycotting BJP leaders from their Mahapanchayats, reports state that the BJP is trying to reach out to the farmers ahead of UP polls 2022.

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Farmer protests' political turn

The Muzaffarnagar Jat farm leader - Rakesh Tikait has been at the forefront of the farm movement at the  UP-Delhi borders. With the dip in farmers' protest after the 26 January violence and Red Fort incident, Tikait re-energised the protest as he called for farmers to head to Ghazipur, while breaking down on camera saying, " I will commit suicide, but won't vacate the protest site". His ardent plea evoked a massive response with thousands of farmers camping at Ghazipur. Tikait's call was in response to the Yogi government's order to vacate the Ghazipur protest site within 24 hours - cutting off water, electricity, and internet. MHA later cut off the internet at Tikri, Ghazipur, and Singhu areas, while Haryana too has cut off internet in most districts ahead of Chakka jam.

Since then, the farmers' protest has taken a definite political turn with Manish Sisodia visiting the Singhu border and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh addressing the Kisan Mahapanchayat at Muzaffarnagar. Moreover, several politicians like Abhay Singh Chautala, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Chaudhary Ajit Singh, Sanjay Singh, Arvind Kejriwal spoke to Tikat after he broke down and several politicians like Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Singh, Hanuman Beniwal and others visiting Tikait. Currently, protests continue at Delhi borders for the 72nd day, with Centre-farmer talks stalled.

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17:02 IST, February 5th 2021