Rakesh Tikait thanks Kejriwal for arrangement bailout at Ghazipur; Delhi CM backs him

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Spokesperson Rakesh Tikait who has been camping at the Ghazipur border for over two months protesting against Centre's contentious farm laws on Friday thanked Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for making water arrangements at the protest site. This comes after Akhilesh Yadav also dialled Rakesh Tikait, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also dialled the BKU leader.

'We are with farmers Rakesh Ji': Kejriwal

Replying to him, Kejriwal in a tweet in Hindi said that his party fully backs the farmers. "Your demands are valid. It is utterly wrong to discredit the farmers' movement, call the farmers as traitors and register false cases against the farmer leaders who have been agitating peacefully for so many days," he said. 

Rakesh Tikait has been named specifically as being one of the leaders who went back on their promise of abiding by the plan for the farmers' tractor march, as agreed with the Delhi police. This, the police says, was the main cause of the shocking riot. Tikait's earlier videos inciting farmers into carrying sticks and speaking about thousands dying have also surfaced. He delivered his most inciteful speech at the Ghazipur bypass on Thursday evening, where he also assaulted one person, and looked in rude health despite netas later calling to inquire about his health.

AAP leaders visit Gazipur and Singhu borders

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said the city government has made arrangements for drinking water and other facilities for the farmers protesting at the Ghazipur border. Sisodia also visited the site to inspect the arrangements. The farmers protesting under the Bharatiya Kisan Union's (BKU) banner claimed on Thursday that the local administration withdrew water tankers and snapped the power supply to the UP Gate protest site.

Meanwhile, Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain & AAP MLA Raghav Chadha visited the Singhu border where farmers are protesting against farm laws. "We're here to inspect arrangement of water and toilets done by us. Police stopped movement of water tankers so that they can't reach here," Jain alleged.

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Around 500 BKU members stayed put on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Friday, notwithstanding the Ghaziabad administration's ultimatum to vacate the protest site. "We will not vacate the spot. We will talk to the Government of India about our issues. I urge the people to remain peaceful. Our talks with the government are going on," Tikait told news agency ANI.

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More farmers are joining in from western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, following an emotional appeal made by Tikait, who has defiantly held his ground. Tension prevailed at the protest site throughout Thursday as police and paramilitary forces in anti-riot gear conducted flag marches on either side of it. However, excess forces were removed later at night.

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Earlier, Delhi Police had issued a notice to Tikait asking him to explain as to why legal action should not be taken against him for breaching the agreement with police regarding the tractor rally on January 26 in which 394 police personnel were injured and several public properties were damaged. The AAP government hasn't condemned the violence of Republic Day, with Kejriwal rather asserting that just because there had been violence, it doesn't mean the farmers' demands are any less relevant.

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(With agency inputs)