The SKM-NP will also hold a ‘Mahapanchayat’ on September 15 at the Uchana Mandi of Jind, while on September 22, a Mahapanchayat will be held in Peepli of Kurkshetra.All India Kisan Sabha, Haryana, Secretary Sumit Singh, who is a member of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, said that farmers’ issues will dominate the upcoming elections in rural areas.”We will see the impact of farmers’ protests in this assembly election. It was there in the Lok Sabha elections as well,” Singh told PTI.The SKM is also going to villages to raise awareness about the pending demands of the farmers, said Singh.The group also has plans to hold ‘Kisan Majdoor Mahapanchayats’ between September 1 and 10, and the final decision will be taken in a meeting of the Haryana SKM on August 20.The demands of the farmers include ensuring legally guaranteed MSP based on the C2+50 percent formula with assured procurement for all crops and no privatisation of the power sector, among others.In the recent Lok Sabha polls, the BJP, which had won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana in the 2019 polls, lost five to the Congress.This time, while the Congress is challenging the BJP, the Aam Aadmi Party has also announced it will fight all 90 seats.Also in fray are the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which has joined hands with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which was in alliance with the BJP until March this year, among others.Asked if the votes may get divided, Singh said, “People will understand who is the strong candidate, and they will support them.” “We are not campaigning for any party, we will tell people to pick the strongest candidate against the BJP,” he said.Kohar also said the SKM-NP is opposed to the policies of the BJP government, but is not campaigning in support of any party.Farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni, the chief of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Haryana and the founder of the Sanyukt Sangharsh Party, which is also in fray in these polls, also said the people are against the BJP, but agreed that the votes against the ruling party may get split.”That is a fault of the Congress. They should have formed an alliance with us,” Charuni said.Charuni, who was also a part of the SKM during the 2020–21 protests and parted ways after he formed his party, said his effort is to ensure the farmers understand the power of their votes.”We formed a political party, and we are trying to make farmers understand that their direct participation in governance is important for our demands to get accepted,” he added.Singh, meanwhile, said opposition parties should understand that people want to defeat the BJP and come together.”We are appealing that political parties should also understand that people are against the BJP, and when people are fighting against the BJP, they should also join hands,” he said.Elections to the 90-member Haryana assembly will be held on October 1 and results will be declared on October 4.
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