'Govt will not come back to power if it does not listen to farmers'
Jaipur: Backing the protesting farmers on their demand for the dismissal of Union minister Ajay Mishra, Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik said he should have resigned immediately after the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and does not deserve the post in any case.
Reacting to the recent spate of civilian killings by militants in Jammu and Kashmir, Malik has said that when he was the governor of the erstwhile state, "terrorists didn't dare to enter within a radius of 50 kilometres of Srinagar."
Malik added that the BJP will not return to power unless the government listens to the farmers agitating over the agri laws, and asserted that he is ready to mediate if the Centre agrees to give legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.
The Governor pointed out that BJP leaders can't even enter several villages of election-bound Uttar Pradesh now. "I am from Meerut. In my area, no BJP leader can enter any village. In Meerut, in Muzzafarnagar, in Baghpat, they can't enter," he told reporters.
On the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, Malik said the Union Minister of State for Home should have been asked to resign right after the Lakhimpur incident.
"It is completely wrong. Resignation of the minister should have been sought the day Lakhimpur Kheri incident took place. Otherwise too, he doesn't deserve to be a minister," he told reporters in Jhunjhunu on Sunday.
Four of the eight people who died in the violence on October 3 were farmers, allegedly knocked down by a vehicle carrying BJP workers. Angry farmers then allegedly lynched some people in the vehicles. The other dead included two BJP workers, their driver and a journalist.
Farmers have claimed that Ajay Mishra's son Ashish was in one of the vehicles, an allegation denied by him and his father who say they can produce evidence to prove he was at an event at that time.
Ashish Mishra was arrested in the case on October 9. Malik said those in government are unable to see the pain of people.
"The government will not come back to power if it does not listen to farmers," Malik said.
He further added: "There is only one thing which will solve the entire issue. If the government agrees to give the MSP guarantee, I will mediate and convince the farmers." When asked why government is not able resolve the farmer's issue, he said, those who get power get arrogant.
"They do not realise this until everything is destroyed," he said.
He said: "The government itself is not arrogant but those who give advice and are close to them are not giving them the right advice." In March, Malik had extended his support to the farmers' agitation and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah to not offend the protesters. Malik said he is with the farmers and has even fought with the Prime Minister and Union Home minister on their issues.
