Farmers livid after BJP fields Ajay Mishra Teni from Kheri Lok Sabha seat, 'Exposes corporate-criminal nexus that grips Modi raj,' says farm union

New Delhi: The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Monday condemned the BJP's decision to field Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni from the Kheri Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh and called upon farmers to organise procession in villages across India against his candidature.

The farmers have been demanding the resignation of Teni, whose son Ashish allegedly ran his car over protesting farmers at Lakhimpur Kheri in October 2021.

"SKM strongly protested and condemned BJP for fielding Ajay Mishra Teni, father of main accused Ashish Mishra Teni and also the main conspirator of the dreadful Lakhimpur Kheri farmers’ massacre, in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 from Kheri seat in Uttar Pradesh,: it said in a statement. 

"The peaceful protest of farmers on 3rd October 2021 as part of the historic struggle against the three farm acts and on other demands was brutally attacked by running vehicles over farmers, thus killing Nakshtra Singh, Lavjeet Singh, Daljeet Singh and Gurvinder Singh and one journalist Raman Kashyap.

"The farmers' movement has demanded dismissal and prosecution of Ajay Mishra Teni under section 102 IPC and ensured punishment but the Modi Government has been protecting the Minister of State for Home during this entire period," the SKM, an umbrella body of several farm unions, said.

"The duress over BJP as a political party to declare candidature of Ajay Mishra Teni exposes the corporate-criminal nexus that grips the BJP-led Modi Raj," it further said.

According to the statement, the SKM, in coordination with the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions (CTU) and other organisations, will face this 'open challenge' of the BJP and will declare its response in the Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat scheduled on March 14 at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi.

"SKM calls upon farmers to organise torchlight procession in the villages across India against the candidature of Teni for Kheri seat and to expose the corporate-criminal nexus under Modi Raj. The date of protest will be decided by the respective state coordination committees of SKM," it said.

The SKM also said there will not be any other call of actions at Delhi before March 14. 

"The states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, parts of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh will participate massively at Ramlila Maidan while there will be representation and nominal participation from other distant states. The state coordination committees of the distant states have planned padyatra, house campaign and district/ tehsil level mahapanchayat during this period," it said.

The SKM, which led the 2020-21 farmers' protests at Delhi borders against the now-repealed farm laws, also condemned the ban by the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry on 'Kisan Satyagraha' film directed by Kesari Haravoo in the Bengaluru International Film Festival. 

"SKM considers this as an act of authoritarianism denying the freedom of expression and democratic values enshrined in the Constitution of India. SKM demands the Modi Government to lift the ban at the earliest," the statement said.

The SKM also appealed to farmers across India to observe International Women’s Day on March 8 while coordinating with the women’s organisations and other mass organisations. 

"SKM greets all the women farmers in India on this occasion and expresses its determination to work towards the emancipation of the women and fight all sorts of atrocities and discrimination against them," the statement said.