In a bid to reach out to farmers of west Uttar Pradesh, Union Minister of State and Muzaffarnagar MP Sanjeev Balyan on Monday held a surprise meeting with the national president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Naresh Tikait.
Balyan, who is busy campaigning, visited Naresh Tikait’s house in Sisauli fuelling political speculation.
The first and second phase of elections on February 10 and February 14 are mostly in western UP, where farmers and Jats have a dominant say in deciding the outcome.
It is conventionally held that performance in the western UP sets the trend for the rest of the State Aassembly elections.
It is understood that Union Home Minister Amit Shah may also meet Jat leaders during his visit to Uttar Pradesh. The meeting between Balyan and Tikait in this context assumes significance.
Balyan could not be contacted for his comments on the issue. Both Naresh Tikait and Balyan belong to Muzaffarnagar and also come from the same Khap. It is being said that Naresh Tikait had an operation a few days ago and Balyan had gone to his house only to enquire about his health.
After the meeting, Naresh Tikait said that Sanjeev Balyan is “our family man, and everyone has the right to come here, anyone belonging to any political party. People have been coming here to seek blessings since the time of Tikait Sahib (Mahendra Singh Tikait)”.
Naresh Tikait is the elder brother of Rakesh Tikait who had staged a sit-in for more than a year at Ghazipur border in protest against the farm laws.
Naresh Tikait is also the national president of the BKU, one of the major force behind the over year-long agitation which was withdrawn after the Government scrapped the three contentious farm laws.
He had also recently announced his support to the candidates of the SP-RLD alliance, although he later took a U-turn.
Western UP has around 150 seats and overwhelmingly voted for the BJP in 2017 Assembly elections as also in Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
The farmers agitation is seen to have turned tide against the BJP in the Jat region where SP-RLD combine is perceived to be cashing on the a “renewed” Jat-Muslim equations which had fallen apart following 2013 riots.
The BJP has already announced names of candidates for 57 out of the 58 seats in UP which will go to polls in the first phase on February 10, and 48 out of 55 seats which will vote in the second phase on February 14. Remaining seats are meant for the NDA allies.