Lucknow, Sep 19 (IANS): The Bhartiya Kisan Union national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait has asked farmers to hold panchayats in village temples to counter the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).

“To save the country, the farmers’ movement will have to be stronger, the RSS and BJP are keeping an eye on the temples of villages for their votes. We need to save them from the BJP. Farmers will have to hold their panchayats in the temples of their villages only. The BKU will not allow the RSS and the BJP to use temples for their benefits,” he said.

Tikait said the government had promised to provide free electricity to farmers, but they never gave it. He also said sugarcane season was about to start but the sugarcane price had not been announced yet.

He demanded immediate enactment of a law on MSP guarantee to farmers and stressed that it should be the first legislation to be passed in the new Parliament building.

“Our demand is for of MSP Guarantee Act and implementation of Swaminathan Report, which is pending with the government,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a farmers’ mahapanchayat in Lucknow.

“The government should come good on its election manifesto. If the Prime Minister talks about ‘gaanv’, ‘gareeb’ and ‘kisaan’ (the village, the poor, and the farmer), then a law on MSP guarantee should be the first announcement to be made from the new building of the Parliament,” Tikait said.

He warned the state government that if the farmers’ demands are not met, this time there will be an all-out fight and the public will also teach them a lesson in the coming elections.

“If sugarcane rates do not increase now, when will they increase?” he asked. He demanded an immediate increase in the sugarcane price in the state and payment of sugarcane growers’ dues.

A 15-point demand letter was sent to the chief minister on behalf of BKU.