UP: After officials’ assurance, Lakhimpur Kheri farmers call off protests

Lakhimpur Kheri: A farmers’ agitation seeking the removal of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra and a law guaranteeing MSP among other demands, was called off on Saturday after top district officials met the protesters, Samyukta Kisan Morcha leader Rakesh Tikait said.

Addressing the farmers, Tikait said the future strategy of the SKM will be chalked out during a meeting in Delhi on September 6.

District Magistrate Mahendra Bahadur Singh and others arrived at the dharna site around 2.30 pm and received the memorandum from the farmers.

The officials assured that a meeting at the government level for the farmers will be arranged in the first week of September, before Tikait and other farmer leaders ended the stir which ran for 75 hours.

Tikait and others said the agitation started with the arrival of farmers from various states on Wednesday night itself. Many of the protesters would leave only by night, he said.

The SKM had organized the dharna at Rajapur Mandi Samiti in Lakhimpur city in support of its various demands, including the sacking of MOS Home Ajay Kumar Mishra, the release of “innocent” farmers from jails, a law guaranteeing MSP (minimum support price), the withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill 2022, payment of sugarcane dues and land rights to farmers.