New Delhi: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday said he was ready to head home from Ghazipur, where he led hundreds of farmers on the eastern border of Delhi in a more than a year-long protest against the three contentious farm laws enacted by the Centre in September last year.
"I am very emotional today. This place has been my home for the past 13 months. But I would like to say that the movement for the rights of farmers will never stop. As we head home from here, I am going to join the farmers in other parts of the country, to stand with them and help raise their issues," Tikait told reporters at Ghazipur, while leading the last batch of farmers from the protest site.
Almost all tents and makeshift pandals have been removed that had come up on one carriageway of Delhi Meerut Expressway.
The BKU leaders had earlier told UNI that Tikait would lead the last batch of protesters to his home town of Sisoli in Muzaffarnagar.
Road maintenance agencies have been carrying out inspections to assess the damage to the expressway from the protester tents, but they were not clear on when it would reopen for traffic.
Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Western UP had reached Delhi borders in November last year, to protest against the three farm laws that sought to deregulate farm trade. The farmers alleged that it would leave them at the mercy of some corporate houses, but the Centre countered that the new regime would allow farmers more options to sell their produce and thus, get better prices.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced last month that his government would abandon the laws, after which they were repealed by Parliament on November 29. After a final agreement was reached, the farmers called off the agitation on December 9. (UNI)