Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait holds mahapanchayat in Nandigram

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday said the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will appeal to voters of Nandigram not to vote for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the assembly polls.

Farmer leader and Bharatiya Kisan Union chief Rakesh Tikait, one of those spearheading the about four-month-old farmers' stir against the Centre's farm laws, reached the state during the day to be part of the Mahapanchayat.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha held a 'mahapanchayat' earlier in the day in Kolkata.

Tikait, who was received at the airport by TMC MP Dola Sen, later addressed gatherings of farmers in the city and at Nandigram in East Midnapore district along with social activist Medha Patkar.

Alleging that the BJP-led government at the Centre is intent on breaking the backbone of the farmers and their movement, Tikait said it is "anti-people".

Also on Friday, at a farmers’ conclave in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Tikait announced that farmers led by him will hold a tractor rally in West Bengal on April 5, The Telegraph reported. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will go in helicopter, while we will go behind him on tractors,” he said.

Elections to the 294 seats in West Bengal will be held in eight phases from March 27 to April 29. The results will be declared on May 2.