Farmer Unions Give 13 Feb ‘Delhi Chalo’ Call

Samyukta Kisan Morcha and 18 farmer unions on 7 Jan organized a mahapanchayat (grand gathering) in Barnala. They demanded the enactment of a law guaranteeing Minimum Support Price for crops, implementation of Swaminathan Commission report, and gave the Delhi Chalo call for 13 Feb. It has been over two years since the Farmers Protest of 2020-21 ended after forcing a repeal of the draconian Farm Laws. With a new protest starting, here is a peek into where the various unions stand vis-à-vis one another. After the protest, differences started with 22 of the 32 unions under SKM announcing the formation of the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM) by Balbir Singh Rajewal on 25 Dec 2021 to fight Panjab assembly elections. SSM could not even get registered and all its candidates lost. Now, the farmer’s movement is divided into the following entities: SKM (Panjab), SKM (Non-Political), a forum of 18 farmer organizations from north Indian states, and a grouping of five farmer organizations led by Rajewal. SKM (Non-Political) is led by BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) Jagjit Singh Dallewal. SKM (Non-Political) recently joined hands with the forum of 18 farmer organizations from Panjab. The Rajewal groups are fighting over water shortage and pollution, accusing the central government of disturbing the federal structure of the states of Panjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan on the Satluj Yamuna Link canal issue. The biggest farmer organization of Panjab, BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) split when Jaswinder Singh Longowal formed another group, BKU (Ekta Azad). The unions are in similar disarray as in 2020 but they could mount the Farmers Protest and win. It needs to be seen if they can repeat their feat this last desperate time before the 2024 General Elections.