Indian farmers hold huge rally, vow to campaign against ruling party

New Delhi (dpa), 5 Sept, 2021-Tens of thousands of Indian farmers on Sunday joined a major rally where they resolved to continue their protest against new agricultural laws and to campaign against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in key state polls.

Farmers groups called the meeting in the city of Muzaffarnagar, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous and politically significant state that goes to polls next year.

Farmers are demanding the repeal of three contentious laws that they say will threaten their livelihoods.

“Farmers, workers and people are angry ... it will be good if the government understands the message going from this huge rally. Contrary to what the government says, our movement has not lost steam, it has only gathered more momentum today,” farmer leader Rakesh Tikait told reporters.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions spearheading the agitation, said the farmers will organize protests across the state and reach out to people asking them not to vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP.

The gathering is also a mark of protest against “atrocities” by the police in northern Haryana state on August 28, when 10 people were injured after police baton-charged a group of farmers who had blocked a highway during their agitation.