Tikait a ‘dacoit’, farmers’ protest receiving foreign funds: UP BJP MP

BJP MP from Bahraich Akshayvar Lal Gond has termed farm leader Rakesh Tikait a "dacoit" and alleged that the farmers' agitation is receiving funds from abroad.

The farmers have been protesting at Delhi borders against the three farm laws, which they fear will do away with the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.

Speaking to reporters here on Sunday on the completion of BJP's four-and-half-years of being in power in the state, Gond said, ''(Rakesh) Tikait is a dacoit. There is no agitation by farmers. The protestors are not farmers, they are people from political parties who are motivated by 'Sikhistan' and Pakistan." "Money is coming from foreign countries including Canada. This money is for terror funding and agencies are probing it,'' he added.

Gond said people know the reality of the protesters.

''If the real farmers were protesting, then there would have been a shortage of food items. Vegetables, milk, food grains, and fruits would not have reached the markets,'' he said.