The Farmers protest is still at its peak on Delhi Borders. The farmers’ leaders who led the farmers during the tractor rally on Republic Day are now keeping the communication at a minimum. The farmer leader and spokesperson of Bhartiya Kisan Union Rakesh Tikat, who made a statement ‘bring sticks’ (lathi dande saath lao) before the tractor March, is once again in the headlines.
Rakesh Tikat is the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union and is the younger brother of Naresh Tikat who is the president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union. Rakesh is the son of the late Mahendra Singh Tikat, chairman of BKU who was the famous farmer leader of Sisoli.
Rakesh Tikait is currently a leader of RJD. He was born in Muzaffarnagar in 1975 and is a strong farmer leader of Uttar Pradesh.
Rakesh Tikait left Delhi Police
Rakesh was born in a middle-class environment and family. He had his schooling at Sir Tashi Namgyal High School. Then, Tikait did his MA from Meerut University and after this, he completed his LLB.
Before becoming a farmer leader, he was a constable in the Delhi police.
In 1993-94, the Kisan agitation led by his father was going on. The agitation was increasing. And it is said that when the Delhi police officials could not end the agitation, they started pressurizing Rakesh Tikat to ask his father to end the agitation. When pressured, he quit the job at Delhi Police.
After leaving the constable’s job from the Delhi police, Rakesh Tikat joined the Kisan Union.
After his father passed away from cancer, he and his brother took over the reins of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.
After the father’s death, Khap ruled that the head of the family will lead the union. Since Naresh was older than Rakesh, he was made chairman of BKU and not Rakesh.
Rakesh Tikait: A politician
Rakesh Tikat tried to come into politics through the Kisan Union but failed miserably.
He contested as an independent from Khatauli assembly constituency in Muzaffarnagar in 2007 but lost the election.
For the second time, he tried his luck and contested the Lok Sabha elections from Amroha in 2014. This time he was given a ticket by the Rashtriya Lok Dal Party, but this time again he lost the election.
