Thousands of farmers gathered in Sudamda village of Surendranagar on Friday, raising their voices against the BJP government’s crackdown on those demanding their rights. Addressing the Kisan Mahapanchayat, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal launched a fierce attack on the BJP, highlighting its tyranny. He said the BJP had turned into a burden on Gujarat and that this election, the people would unite to remove it.
The AAP Chief tore into the BJP government for jailing 85 farmers and stopping AAP from honouring their families on stage. He also called out Minister Harsh Sanghavi for ordering the lathi charge and said BJP had insulted the Patel community by making Bhupendra Patel a ‘dummy CM’ and him the ‘Super CM’. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Gujarat Prabhari Gopal Rai, Gujarat President Isudan Gadhvi, MLAs Gopal Italia and Chaitar Vasava, and other senior AAP leaders attended the Kisan Mahapanchayat.
Addressing the Mahapanchayat, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal stated, “One hundred and fifty years ago, on 31 October, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was born on this sacred soil of Gujarat, and today we are celebrating his 150th birth anniversary. Sardar Patel is called the lion of Gujarat and India. In India’s history, the biggest fights for farmers were fought by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. In 1918 Sardar Patel led the Kheda movement against the British, and in 1928 he led the Bardoli satyagraha, and the British had to accept all their demands. When Sardar Patel led movements a hundred years ago, the British never lathi charged, never fired tear-gas shells, never filed false FIRs (First Information Report), and did not register cases under Section 307 to send farmers to jail.”
Arvind Kejriwal continued, “Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel would never have imagined, even in his dreams, that a hundred years after independence such a filthy and oppressive BJP government would come to power in India and lathi-charge farmers who are fighting for their rights, fire year gas shells at them, file false 307 cases and send them to jail. If Sardar Patel’s soul is watching, it must be pained to see what Gujarat has become and what government has come to power. On Sardar Patel’s land, farmers are crying. The BJP government has jailed 85 farmers merely because they were fighting for their rights.”
The AAP Chief pointed out, “We had invited the families of jailed farmers to the mahapanchayat and wanted to honour them by seating them on the stage, but those families were not allowed to sit on the stage and were taken off it. Such a government should be ashamed. We stand with all those families. We will get every farmer out of jail, even if we must hire the biggest lawyers. Last July, in north Gujarat, livestock-rearing farmers who were fighting for their rights were fired upon with tear gas shells and lathis, falsely charged and sent to jail. A few months ago, AAP MLA Chaitar Vasava, who was raising the voice of adivasis was also charged in a false case and jailed by the Gujarat government. They know only how to put people in jail.”
Highlighting the brutality faced by farmers, he asserted, “In the last 75 years, the people of Gujarat have never seen such a cruel, oppressive and arrogant government. Farmers are demanding the end of the ‘karda pratha’. The BJP had promised to provide MSP (Minimum Support Price) to farmers when it formed the central government, but MSP has not been given to date. When a farmer brings his crop to the mandi, under karda pratha he is not paid the full price; farmers are being denied their rightful dues. Despite this, the police have entered farmers’ homes and beaten their children. The BJP people were celebrating Diwali in their homes while farmers were sitting at home weeping for their jailed children. Aam Aadmi Party stands with every farmer’s family.”
Declaring solidarity and personal resolve, Arvind Kejriwal said, “A mother of one jailed farmer told me that her son is fighting for the freedom of poor farmers. She said: ‘Beat my son as much as you like, it makes no difference to me.’ I told that mother not to worry. The Aam Aadmi Party stands with the farmers. I am also your son; the police will beat your son later, but they will beat me first. I will go to jail first.”
Pointing to BJP’s use of police, he stated, “All Gujarat farmers voted for the BJP in large numbers and the BJP has been in government for the last 30 years. Did Gujarat’s farmers vote to see their children put in jail? Today the BJP has developed an arrogance of power. There is massive anger among farmers across Gujarat against this arrogance. The BJP people are very cowardly; they use the police as a shield. If the BJP stops relying on the police one day, Gujarat’s farmers will drag BJP people out of their homes and run them down — there will be nowhere for them to seek shelter.”
Criticising BJP’s subservience to foreign pressure, the AAP Supremo emphasised, “Farmers from over 400 mandis are united and movements are ongoing in all mandis. The BJP are so cowardly that every day they receive threats from the President of the United States, Trump, and they carry them out. When Trump asked for import duty removal on US cotton, the BJP complied; when Trump asked to stop buying crude oil from Russia, the BJP stopped buying. Trump keeps saying he ended the India-Pakistan conflict — the BJP do not have the courage to respond. When Trump tells them to stand at attention, they stand up; the BJP’s pants get wet in front of Trump. They cannot stand up to Trump yet they show their strength by putting poor farmers in jail. They have no shame. If the BJP has courage, threaten Trump instead; do not show your power on farmers.”
“The order to jail farmers, lathi-charge them, file false Section 307 cases and to jail MLAs Chaitar Vasava, Pravin Ram and Raju Kapadia was given by Harsh Sanghavi, and the BJP rewarded him by making him Deputy Chief Minister. The police are driving farmers away by beating them. Watching the video brought tears to my eyes. My warning to the BJP is that the countdown of their rule in Gujarat has begun. Thirty-seven years ago Congress also became arrogant in the same way and their government fired on farmers; 14 farmers were killed. Since then Congress has not returned to power in Gujarat. The BJP is heading for the same fate this time. This time the BJP will certainly be defeated in Gujarat and will not return to power for the next 50 years,” he asserted.
Revealing internal BJP dynamics, Arvind Kejriwal said, “Seeing the by-poll result in Visavadar, the BJP got scared and changed the entire cabinet. Changing the cabinet will not work now; the government itself will change in Gujarat. Bhupendra Patel is the Chief Minister of Gujarat, but after changing the cabinet the BJP has made him a dummy CM. Bhupendra Patel no longer runs Gujarat; Harsh Sanghvi is the ‘super CM’ of Gujarat. By making Bhupendra Patel a dummy CM, the BJP has insulted the entire Patel community.”
The AAP Chief further revealed, “In Gujarat the Congress and BJP are in cahoots; they have a secret alliance. In a way they are husband and wife — who is husband and who is wife, no one knows. BJP and Congress people have joint businesses. Congress does not want the BJP to lose power in Gujarat so that their businesses may continue. Why is it that only Aam Aadmi Party leaders like Chaitar Vasava and Pravin Ram go to jail? Why does not a single Congress leader go to jail? There is clearly some ‘setting’ between them.”
Summing up the political choice, he said, “Today the BJP has become a burden on the soil of Gujarat. The people of Gujarat must lift this burden. There was a time when the British thought no one could remove them from India; in the end the British had to go. Like the British, the BJP also thinks no one can remove them from Gujarat, but the BJP will have to leave Gujarat. The party that raises farmers’ voices is the Aam Aadmi Party and the party that lathi-charges farmers is the BJP. Gujarat belongs to all of us, not to their fathers. The BJP has exploited Gujarat way too much. The people of Gujarat will not allow further plunder. Their children study abroad while our children are put in jail. In the coming assembly elections we must defeat the BJP across Gujarat as we did in Visavadar.”
He pointed out, “Because of the rains many crops have been destroyed. Punjab also faced very severe floods this year; all 23 districts of Punjab were flooded. Within a month Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann of Punjab deposited ₹50,000 per hectare into the bank accounts of all farmers. On behalf of farmers, the Aam Aadmi Party demands that the Gujarat government provide compensation of ₹50,000 per hectare for ruined crops.”
The white British left the country but now other ‘black British’ are troubling the people: Bhagwant Singh Mann
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said, “Every act of cruelty by the BJP government will be accounted for. They are registering cases against farmers and jailing them. How many will you book? The BJP’s cases will end but the people will not. They think they can manage things this way, but they cannot.”
Bhagwant Singh Mann said, “A farmer is the provider of food. I come from the farming land of Punjab. Punjab supplies the nation with over 18 million metric tonnes of rice and over 12.5 million metric tonnes of wheat. Mustard, cotton, bajra, arhar, moong, masoor lentils, sugarcane and all crops are grown in Punjab. We feed the nation. If wrongs are done to us, farmers will teach a lesson and bring oppressors to the ground, because farmers are connected to the land and they know how to bring others down to earth.”
He continued, “We came by road from Rajkot. We saw potholes on the way, but in Gujarat I saw roads full of potholes for the first time. Roads are not being built and farmers are not getting proper prices for their crops. Unseasonal rains have caused damage, yet compensation is not being provided. Where should the farmer go? Are they leaving it to fate?”
Bhagwant Singh Mann cited Punjab’s response: “In Punjab floods caused damage to crops equating to ₹500,000 per acre. Our crops were ruined. We are giving ₹20,000 per acre as compensation and started payments within a month. If there is compassion for farmers, handouts can begin within a month. Here crops have been ruined by incessant rains, yet no one listens. BJP people just make grand claims. BJP and Congress are together looting; their shop is running.”
The Punjab CM warned, “The BJP think they can scare the sons of the soil; these farmers will not be frightened. When the provider of food gets angry, he knows how to collect his due — every brother, every grain will be accounted for. I have come from the land of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and the gurus, Punjab, to salute Gujarat’s farmers. Stay steadfast; we will stand with you. Victory will be ours.”
Bhagwant Singh Mann said, “Bhagat Singh and other twenty-two to twenty-three year-old youngsters drove the British away. No one believed small kids could dismantle such a great empire, but their passion remained and they chose the path that led to the gallows — and the British left. Today is Sardar Patel’s birth anniversary; we salute him. He fought the British. The British left, but ‘black British’ have come. Independence was not taken so that white British go and black British loot. We must escape this slavery. Stay united — Arvind Kejriwal and the entire Aam Aadmi Party stand with the farmers.”
He concluded, “AAP’s election symbol is the jhaadu (broom), which cleans. Earlier we cleaned shops and houses; now under Arvind Kejriwal’s leadership we will clean the whole of India. Small children, mothers and families are present here. This is not a private fight but a fight for existence. If we must take lathis and bullets, we will stand with chests out. My appeal to the people of Gujarat is that this time sweep away the filth from Gujarat with the jhaadu and free the state from the tyrannical government.”
