To add to the BJP’s woes ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 200 peasants’ outfits under the banner of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) have decided to invite 25 non-BJP political parties to a major rally they are organising here on November 30.

The invitations have also been extended to NDA partners Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal and efforts are on to convince Janata Dal United (JD-U) to attend it. In States such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, where elections are underway, farmers’ distress is a major electoral issue. The organisers said they expect one lakh farmers from various parts of the country and the effort is to set a farmer-centric agenda for the Lok Sabha elections. “Our protests have made farmers’ plight a key agenda in the last four years. Some political leaders who were silent about the issue so far have started speaking. Our aim is that 2019 Lok Sabha polls should be held on farmers’ agenda, not on any communal or casteist agenda,” said Kisan Sabha general secretary Hannan Mollah. The organisers have asked political parties to send key leaders to address the rally. Invitations have been sent to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan and other leaders of the Opposition.

Swabhimani Paksha leader Raju Shetti and CPI(M) MP KK Ragesh had moved two Bills each demanding guaranteed remunerative price and complete loan waiver in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha during the budget session. Twenty-one parties, including Shiv Sena, had pledged support for the Bill. “We demand the Centre convene a special session of the Parliament to consider these private Bills on farmers’ issues. We will urge the Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairman of Rajya Sabha to support the passage of the Bill in Winter session,” Mollah added.

A charter of farmers’ demands will be passed in the rally. The plan is to get proclamations of support of each political party for this charter. “We will ask political parties to announce their stand towards the problems of farmers and what they will do for farmers if they come to power,” Mollah said.

NCP leader Sharad Pawar and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan addressed a convention of Kisan Sabha held in Mumbai on Monday. The intention of the AIKSCC is to get political leaders’ support for their cause.

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