Rakesh Tikait is a farmer leader, politician, and national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisna Union (BKU). He is the son of the late Mahendra Singh Tikait, one of the most influential peasant leaders in the history of independent India. In 2020, Rakesh Tikait came into the limelight after he took part in the farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws that were passed by the Indian Parliament in September 2020.
Wiki/Biography
Rakesh Tikait was born on Wednesday, 4 June 1969 (age 51 years; as of 2020) in Sisauli village, located in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. His zodiac sign is Gemini. He went to DAV Inter College, Sisauli, Muzaffarnagar and then completed his high school from Kisan Inter College Lalu Kheri, Muzaffarnagar in 1986. He did his secondary schooling from Board of High School and Intermediate Education Uttar Pradesh in 1988. After that, he completed studies with Bachelor of Arts degree from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut (formerly Meerut University).
Rakesh Tikait in his village
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′ 10″
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper
Eye Color: Black
Family & Caste
Rakesh Tikait belongs to the Jaat community.
Parents & Siblings
Rakesh Tikait is the youngest son of famous farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, who spent his whole life fighting for the interests of farmers. Mahendra is revered by farmers as their second messiah after India’s fifth Prime Minister, Chaudhary Charan Singh.
Mahendra Singh Tikait during the 1988 farmers’ protest at the Boat Club yard in New Delhi
Mahendra Singh Tikait died of bone cancer at the age of 76 on 15 May 2011. Rakesh Tikait’s mother, Baljori Devi, is also gone.
Rakesh Tikait’s parents, Mahendra Singh Tikait and Baljori Devi
Tikait’s elder brother, Naresh Singh Tikait, is the president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). Naresh Tikait was given the post after his father’s death.
Naresh Singh Tikait
Apart from Naresh, Rakesh has four other siblings; two younger brothers, Surendra Tikait, (a manager at a sugar mill in Meerut) and Narendra Tikait (a farmer), and two younger sisters.
Narendra Tikait
Surendra Tikait
Wife & Children
Rakesh Tikait is married to Sunita Devi.
Rakesh Tikait’s wife, Sunita Devi
The couple has a son, Charan Singh Taikit, and two daughters, Seema and Jyoti.
Charan Singh Takait poses next to Mahendra Singh Tikait’s sculpture in Sisauli village
Career
As a Policeman
Rakesh Tikait has worked as a constable in Delhi Police for a short period. He resigned from Delhi Police duty during the 1992-93 farmers’ protests, led by his father, Mahendra Singh Tikait, to join the ongoing movement.
In Politics
Rakesh Tikait has fought in two different elections. The first was in the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections when Rakesh contested from the Khatauli Muzaffarnagar Assembly seat as an independent candidate. He could only get 9,095 votes in the election. On 14 March 2014, Rakesh Tikait joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), a political party founded by Chaudhary Charan Singh’s son Ajit Singh. His decision to join the RLD surprised people, as he had previously criticized the RLD and had supported the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Speaking about the reasons behind his decision to join RLD, Tikait stated,
I had to choose between RLD and others. I find RLD better. It is the party that has taken up the issue of farmers.”
Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, the RLD fielded Rakesh Tikait as its candidate from the Amroha Lok Sabha constituency. Rakesh had to face defeat again, receiving 9,539 votes which is only 0.62% percent of the total votes polled.
Farmer Leadership
Rakesh Tikait was elected as the national spokesperson of Bharatiya Kisan Union in 1997. Since then, he has been fighting for the rights of farmers.
Bajra objected
Reportedly, Rakesh Tikait once demanded that the Rajasthan government increase the price of grain procurement from farmers. Later, he protested against the government after it refused to accept the demand. As a result, the Rajasthan government increased the price of millet for farmers. Rakesh was also arrested and sent to Jaipur jail amid the protests.
The 2018 Kisan Kranti Yatra
In October 2018, Bharatiya Kisan Union gave a call for Kisan Kranti Yatra from Tikait Ghat in Haridwar to Delhi. This was done to force the union government to fulfill a list of farmers’ demands which consisted of unconditional loan waiver for farmers, clearance of dues by sugar mills, higher prices for crops, free electricity for farms and cut in diesel prices. The farmers also demanded the implementation of the Swaminathan Committee Report. As thousands of protesters reached the borders of Delhi, section 144 was imposed in East and North East Delhi. Over 3,000 security personnel from Delhi Police and UP Police were deployed in the area to prevent farmers from entering the national capital. Police had to use water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Kisan Kranti Yatra at Delhi border
Eventually, union government ministers met Tikait and other farmers’ leaders and persuaded them to end the agitation. Tikait and other leaders agreed to the government’s guarantee to set up a committee that would look into the farmers’ demands, and thus the protest was called off.
Indian Farmers Protest 2020-21
In September 2020, the Government of India passed three farm bills in the Indian parliament. Soon after the act was introduced, many farmers’ unions, including the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), staged protests against the law and subsequently demanded its repeal. Rakesh Tikait became the leading face of the movement.
Rakesh Tikait delivers a speech at the Singhu border during farmers’ protest in Delhi
Rakesh Tikait was one of the farmers’ leaders who participated in 12 rounds of negotiations with the government to resolve the dispute.
Rakesh Tikait speaks to India’s agriculture minister Narendra Tomar at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi
After two months of peaceful sit-in protests, on 26 January 2021, farmers staged a tractor march to Delhi from their protest sites at Singhu border, Tikri border and Ghazipur border. Rakesh Tikait is one of the organizers of the program. As the rally began, a group of protesters deviated from the designated route for the rally, broke through barricades, and entered central Delhi. The rally in central Delhi turned violent, leaving 394 security personnel injured and one rioter dead. As a result, various government authorities put pressure on farmers to vacate the protest site. A large security force has been deployed to various protest sites, including the Ghazipur border protest site where the agitation was led by Bhartiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait. The Ghaziabad administration gave the farmers an ultimatum to vacate the Ghazipur protest site and opened roadblocks. Rakesh Tikait was asked to surrender before the police as he was named in one of the FIRs filed in connection with the Republic day violence. Rakesh Tikait refused to give his arrest stating that the agitation would continue even if he had to face bullets. He said,
“They (the government) are conspiring to kill me in the name of detention. Unwanted elements with weapons were sent to the protest site in vehicles with Lucknow Assembly decals. There is no violence on the Ghazipur border. Despite this, the government practices repressive policies. We want a peaceful court arrest. But there seems to be a plan to incite violence while the protesters return. If there is such a plan, I will stay here. I will face the bullet. I will take my own life, but I will not withdraw from the protest until the law is repealed.”
He also broke down in front of the camera while talking to media reporters.
As the video of him demolishing himself and threatening to hang himself if the farm law is not repealed went viral, a group of Tikait’s supporters started moving towards the Ghazipur border. Protest sites, which had dwindled after the majority of protesters had left in light of the Republic Day violence, began to fill up again. This forced the administration to recall a strong police deployment from the site and call off the evacuation of the protest site. The interrupted electricity and water supply was also restored after midnight. Apparently, Rakesh Tikait’s emotional turmoil overcame the massive deployment of the police and once again revived the farmers’ movement.
Net worth
According to his affidavit filed with the Election Commission of India in 2014, Rakesh Tikait’s net worth is estimated to be Rs. 4.1 crore.
Facts/Trivia
- The hereditary title “Tikait,” carried by Rakesh and the male members of the Tikait family, was a title given to the head of the Baliyan Khap by King Harshavardhana, the Jat ruler of Thanesar in the 7th century. Since then, it has been used by every Baliyan Khap chief and his male family members as their surname. Rakesh Tikait’s brother, Naresh Tikait, is the incumbent chief of Baliyan Khap, who took over the post after the death of his father, Mahendra Singh Tikait, in 2011.
- Although the ruling of the Bharatiya Kisan Union was transferred to Rakesh’s brother, Naresh Tikait, after his father’s death (as per the Khap rule which says that only the eldest son can be the head of the organization), all BKU headship decisions are still taken by Rakesh himself.
- According to media reports, Rakesh Tikait has been imprisoned for more than forty times while protesting in the interests of farmers. He has three pending criminal cases registered against him.
- Mahendra Singh Tikait has been detained by the police several times. The most dramatic event in his life occurred in 2008 when a contingent of about 10,000 policemen surrounded Sisauli village to arrest Mahendra Singh Tikait. This came after Mahendra allegedly made derogatory casteist remarks against the then UP CM, Mayawati, during his speech at a farmers’ rally in Bijnor district. Thousands of Mahendra Singh’s supporters became a shield and prevented the police from entering the village. As a result, massive clashes broke out between Mahendra’s supporters and the police. Later, Mahendra surrendered before the Bijnor court and was released after he issued an apology.
- Veteran farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait is also known for his simplicity. He used to sit and eat food among the peasants. Even during the protest, he used to sit among the farmers instead of the stage.
- On 30 May 2022, a man identified as Shivakumar Atri attacked him with ink at a press conference in Bengaluru. Later, it was found that the person was a murder convict who was released from prison in Karnataka’s Hassan in 2015 for good behaviour.
Rakesh Tikait is attacked with ink at a press conference in Bengaluru on May 30, 2022
Categories: Biography
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
