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News Desk: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait vowed to continue the ongoing farmers’ protests even as COVID cases surged at an unprecedented rate throughout India and said that they “were not going anywhere until their demands were fulfilled”. As the farmers’ protests entered the fifth month, Rakesh Tikait claimed that there was no relation between their agitation and COVID and claimed that there were more people attending PM Modi’s rally than participating in the protests. The farmer leader blamed the Centre for shortage of oxygen & medicines and claimed that hospitals should be given priority over temples. Taking an apparent jibe at the Ram Mandir donation drive, Rakesh Tikait claimed that contributions should be asked in the name of hospitals and not temples.
Earlier, Rakesh Tikait had said that the Centre would be held accountable if COVID cases crop up among the farmers who have been protesting at the borders of Delhi even as the national capital goes under lockdown due to virus surge. Rakesh Tikait had asserted that COVID cannot be sought as an excuse to put a hold on the farmers’ protest. Speaking with Republic Media Network, Rakesh Tikait had said, “Responsibility will be of the government. When the COVID-19 cases are rising across the country, who is responsible for it? Are farmers responsible for that too?”
