Farmers agitating against the Centre’s farm laws are prepared for a long haul, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said on Thursday. Tikait, who is at the helm of the farmers’ protest in Ghazipur, was addressing a mahapanchayat at Assandh in Haryana‘s Karnal district. Asserting that protesting farmers will not relent unless the laws are repealed, Rakesh Tikait said, “We have made preparations till November-December.” Spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), Rakesh Tikait reiterated his demand for withdrawal of the agriculture reform laws and the provision of a legal guarantee on MSP. Referring to his late father Mahender Singh Tikait, Rakesh Tikait said, “Tikait sahib used to say that when Haryana stands in support of an agitation, government shivers.”

Farmer leader Tikait went on to say that the Centre’s farm laws will have an adverse impact not just on farmers but also on other sections. “This fight is not just of farmers but it is also for the poor, small traders,” he said.

During his speech in Karnal on Thursday, Rakesh Tikait also said that the central government tried to break the agitation by dividing it on the lines of Punjab and Haryana. That did not work, he said adding that the protesting farmers have shown that they can look after their crops and the agitation at the same time.

“There is the possibility that in the name of corona, restrictions may be imposed but our agitation will go on. We will follow all the guidelines, but we will not end our dharnas,” Rakesh Tikait said.