Kisan Mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar is organized on this day. Preparations for the mahapanchayat were done through a series of local-level village/khap panchayats in Uttar Pradesh as well as in other states. An incident that took place on August 14 where villagers of Sisauli village protested against the visit of BJP MLA polarized the farmers in western Uttar Pradesh against the ruling party. BKU (Arajnaitik headed by Tikaits) reached out to various khaps of the area for their support for September 5 mahapanchayat and a number of khaps extended their support for the same. This development is noteworthy since in this region Jat peasantry was polarized and mobilsed against the Muslim community which led to communal riots in 2014. This gave BJP a huge electoral advantage. Now since the Jat peasantry is mobilized by the BKU against the new three farm laws large sections of them have turned against BJP. The BKU and Tikait brothers also tried to address the Jat-Muslim rift in the last few months and Muslims have supported and attended various kisan mahapanchayats in the region called by the BKU. This unity and isolation of the BJP among the peasantry can be significant in the UP state assembly elections in 2022. A massive and historic Kisan Mahapanchayat was organized on GIC ground. According to some estimates, approximately half a million to a million people participated in the mahapanchayat making it one of the largest farmers’ gatherings in the history of the country. When the main mobilisation was from the neighbouring states representatives of farmers from around 20 states attended the event. There were reports of trains being suspended from a few places and farmers from Uttarakhand being stopped by the police from reaching Muzaffarnagar. The massive outpour of people in the mahapanchayat could not be accommodated in the Muzaffarnagar city and was spilled over to the adjoining areas. A large section of vehicles could not make it to the venue due to lack of space in the city. Hundreds of langars, medical camps and mobile clinics had been set up to help the farmers.
The mahapanchayat reenergized the farmers’ movement and a number of calls were given to provide a direction to it in the coming months. The SKM announced its Mission Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand which urges people to defeat BJP in the upcoming state elections. The mahapanchayat announced that 18 big panchayats across all mandals (administrative divisions) of Uttar Pradesh will be held in the coming months. There was also a call to free the toll plazas in the Uttar Pradesh. The farmers’ leaders called upon the people to defeat the communal politics and stand united to protect agriculture and livelihoods. This call of communal unity was significant as the area had experienced communal riots between Hindus and Muslims in 2013. The speakers reminded people of the promises made by the ruling party in the state and demanded that all those promises of increased crop prices, clearing pending dues, state procurement, and loan waiver should be fulfilled. The mahapanchayat gave a call to intensify and strengthen the movement across the country and to form state and district level units of SKM. The mahapanchayat is seen as a significant development for the farmers’ movement and will be remembered for times to come for its attendance and direction. Speakers in the mahapanchayat attacked the government for its anti-labour reforms, economic policies, policies of privatization and selling of public sector infrastructure and assets to favour the corporate houses.
