Rakesh Tikait is a farmer leader, politician and national spokesperson of Bharatiya Kisna Union (BKU). He is the son of late Mahendra Singh Tikait, one of the most influential farmer leaders in the history of independent India. In 2020, Rakesh Tikait came into the limelight after he took part in the farmers’ agitation against the Three Farm Bills, which were passed by the Indian Parliament in September 2020.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Rakesh Thikait was born on Wednesday, June 4, 1969 (age 51 years; as of 2020) in the village of Sisauli, located in the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. His zodiac sign is Gemini. He studied at DAV Inter College, Sisauli, Muzaffarnagar and then graduated from Kisan Inter College Lalu Kheri, Muzaffarnagar in 1986. He completed his high school from Board of High School and Secondary Education in Uttar Pradesh in 1988. He then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree (Chauderuth University, Mechanerutering University, Chauderuth, Meachelor University, Charterutering University).
Rakesh Tikait in his village
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′ 10″
Hair color: salt and pepper
Eye Color: Black
family and caste
Rakesh Tikait belongs to the Jaath community.
parents and siblings
Rakesh Tikait is the younger son of the famous farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait who has spent his whole life fighting for the interests of farmers. Mahendra was revered by farmers as the second messiah after India’s fifth prime minister, Chaudhary Charan Singh.
Mahendra Singh Tikait during the 1988 Farmers’ Protest at the Boat Club Lawn, New Delhi
Mahendra Singh Thikait died of bone cancer at the age of 76 on 15 May 2011. Rakesh Thikait’s mother, Baljori Devi, is also no more.
Rakesh Tikait’s parents, Mahendra Singh Tikait and Baljori Devi
Tikait’s elder brother, Naresh Singh Tikait, is the president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). Naresh Tikait was given the post after his father’s death.
Naresh Singh Tikait
Apart from Naresh, Rakesh has four other siblings; two younger brothers, Surendra Tikait, (a manager at a sugar factory in Meerut) and Narendra Tikait (a farmer) and two sisters.
Narendra Tikait
Surendra Tikait
wife and children
Rakesh Tikait is married to Sunita Devi.
Rakesh Tikait’s wife, Sunita Devi
The couple has one son Charan Singh Taikit and two daughters Seema and Jyoti.
Charan Singh Thakait poses with Mahendra Singh Thakait’s sculpture in Sisauli village
Career
as police personnel
Rakesh Tikait worked as a constable in the Delhi Police for a brief period. He resigned from the Delhi Police post in 1992-93 during the farmers’ protests led by his father, Mahendra Singh Tikait, and joined the then movement.
in politics
Rakesh Tikait contested two different elections. The first was the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections, when Rakesh contested from the Muzaffarnagar Khatauli Assembly seat as an independent candidate. In this election, he collected only 9095 votes. On 14 March 2014, Rakesh Tikait joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), a political party founded by Chaudhary Charan Singh’s son Ajit Singh. His decision to join the RLD came as a surprise to people as he had earlier criticized the RLD and supported the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Speaking about his reason for joining the RLD, Tikait said,
I had to choose between RLD and the others. I found RLD better. It was the party that took up the issue of farmers.”
Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the RLD fielded Rakesh Tikait as its candidate from the Amroha Lok Sabha constituency. Rakesh had to lose again, getting 9,539 votes, which was only 0.62% of the votes polled.
Farmer leadership
Rakesh Tikait was elected as the national spokesperson of Bharatiya Kisan Union in 1997. Since then he has been fighting for the rights of farmers.
Bajra protest
According to reports, Rakesh Tikait once requested the Rajasthan government to increase the purchase price of millets from farmers. He later protested against the government after it refused the request. Consequently, the Rajasthan government increased the price of millet to the farmers. Rakesh was also arrested and sent to Jaipur jail amid protests.
2018 Kisan Kranti Yatra
In October 2018, the Bharatiya Kisan Union called for a Kisan Kranti Yatra from Tikait Ghat in Haridwar to Delhi. This was done to get the union government to fulfill a list of farmers’ demands, which include unconditional loan waiver for farmers, clearance of dues by sugar mills, higher crop prices, free electricity for farms and reduction in diesel prices. The farmers also demanded implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report. As thousands of protesters reached the Delhi border, Section 144 was imposed in East and North-East Delhi. Over 3,000 security personnel from Delhi Police and UP Police were deployed in the district to stop farmers from entering the national capital. Police had to use water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Kisan Kranti Yatra on Delhi border
Eventually, the union government ministers met Tikait and other farmers’ leaders and convinced them to end the agitation. Tikait and other leaders agreed to the government’s assurance of setting up a committee to look into the farmers’ demands and hence the protest was called off.
2020-21 Indian Farmers Protest
In September 2020, the Government of India passed three Farm Bills in the Indian Parliament. Soon after the Acts were introduced, many farmers’ unions, including the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), staged protests against the laws and subsequently demanded their repeal. Rakesh Tikait became a prominent face of the movement.
Rakesh Tikait speaks during a farmers’ protest at the Singhu border in Delhi
Rakesh Tikait was one of the farmers’ leaders who participated in 12 rounds of dispute settlement talks with the government.
Rakesh Tikait talks to Indian Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi
After two months of peaceful sit-in protests, on 26 January 2021, farmers took out a tractor march in Delhi from their protest sites at Singhu border, Tikri border and Ghazipur border. Rakesh Tikait was one of the organizers of the program. As soon as the rally started, a group of protesters deviated from the route designated for the rally, broke through the barricades and entered Delhi. The rally in central Delhi turned violent, injuring 394 security personnel and killing one agitator. Consequently, various government authorities pressured the farmers to leave the protest sites. Security forces were deployed at various protest sites, including the Gazipur border protest site, where the agitation was led by Rakesh Tikait of the Bhartiya Kisan Union. The Ghaziabad administration issued an ultimatum to the farmers to vacate the Ghazipur protest site and open the road blockade. Rakesh Tikait was asked to surrender before the police as he was named in one of the FIRs filed in connection with the Republic Day violence. Rakesh Thikait refused to be arrested, saying that the agitation would continue even if he had to be shot. She said,
“They (authorities) are conspiring to kill me in the name of arrest. Unwanted elements with weapons are sent to the protest site in vehicles bearing Lucknow Assembly stickers. There was no violence at the Ghazipur border. Despite this, the government pursues a repressive policy. We want to arrest the court peacefully. But there appears to be a plan to incite violence before the protesters return. If there is any such plan, I will stay here. I will face the bullet. I will kill my life, but until the laws are repealed, I will not withdraw my protest.”
He broke down in front of the cameras while talking to media correspondents.
After a video of him breaking down and threatening to hang himself if the farm laws were not repealed, a group of Tikait supporters started moving towards the Ghazipur border. The protest site, which has been dwindling since most of the protesters left due to the Republic Day violence, has started to fill up again. This prompted the administration to respond by deploying heavy police force from the area and canceling the rally to clear the protest site. Also after midnight, interrupted electricity and water supply were restored. Rakesh Tikait’s emotional outburst seems to have outweighed the massive police deployment and revived the peasant movement once again.
Net worth
According to his affidavit filed with the Election Commission of India in 2014, Rakesh Tikait’s net worth is estimated at Rs. 4.1 million.
Facts/Trivia
- The hereditary title of Tikait, held by Rakesh and the male members of the Tikait family, was a title conferred on the Balian Khapi chief by Raja Harshavardhana, a Jat ruler of Thanesar in the 7th century. Since then, it has been used as a surname by all Balian Khapi chiefs and male members of his family. Rakesh Tikait’s brother, Naresh Tikait, is the current head of Balian Khapi, taking over after the death of his father Mahendra Singh Tikait in 2011.
- Although the leadership of the Bharatiya Kisan Union was handed over to Rakesh’s elder brother, Naresh Tikait, after his father’s death (according to Khapi rules, which state that only the eldest son can head the organization), all major decisions of BKU are still taken by Rakesh himself.
- According to media reports, Rakesh Tikait has gone to jail more than forty times during protests in favor of farmers’ interests. Three criminal cases have been initiated against him.
- Mahendra Singh Tikait was arrested several times by the police. The most dramatic event in his life occurred in 2008 when a contingent of about 10,000 policemen surrounded the village of Sisauli to arrest Mahendra Singh Tikait. This comes after Mahendra allegedly made a derogatory casteist remark against then UP CM Mayawati during his speech at a farmers’ rally in Bijnor district. Thousands of supporters of Mahendra Singh became a shield and did not prevent the police from entering the village. Accordingly, there were large-scale clashes between Mahendra’s supporters and the police. Later, Mahendra surrendered himself before the Bijnor court and was released after he tendered an apology.
- Veteran farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait was also known for his simplicity. He was sitting among the farmers and eating food. Even during the protest he sat among the farmers instead of the stage.
- On 30 May 2022, a man identified as Shivakumar Attri attacked him with ink during a press conference in Bengaluru. It was later revealed that the person was a convicted murderer who had been released from Karnataka’s Hassan Jail in 2015 for good behaviour.
Rakesh Tikait was attacked with ink during a press conference in Bengaluru on May 30, 2022.
Categories: Sports
Source: dienchau2.edu.vn
