Bharatiya Kisan Union

History

The foundation of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) began with the formation of the Punjab Khetibari Zamindari Union (later renamed Punjab Khetibari Union) in May 1972 with the merger of 11 peasants group in Chandigarh. In 1978, the PKU was transformed into the BKU with the intention of creating a national forum for farmers with association to the Bharatiya Lok Dal of the Janata Party (Secular), but it failed to provide a substantial mobilization of farmers initially. On 12 December 1980, an "All-India Kisan Sammelan" was organised which saw the unification of the Kisan Sangarsh Samiti (Haryana), Raytu Sangha (Karnataka) and Vyavasayigal Sangham (Tamil Nadu) under the ambit of the BKU. In 1982, the union underwent a brief split under the designation of BKU (N) led by Narayanasamy Naidu and BKU (M) led by Bhupendra Singh Mann. The organisation was however reunited by the intervention of Sharad Anantrao Joshi under a federal structure with autonomous state units. It was reorganised on 17 October 1986 by Mahendra Singh Tikait with its headquarters in Sisauli in western Uttar Pradesh as a non-partisan organisation contrary to its previous association with the former Prime Minister, Charan Singh.

During the 1980s, it emerged through a number of agitations which began with the rising wave of people's movements since the Bihar Movement following Indira Gandhi's Emergency. The Bharatiya Kisan Union attained popularity by leading the "Meerut siege" in January–February 1988 which was a 25-day long dharna (picketing) around the commissioner's office in Meerut that witnessed the gathering of hundreds of thousands of farmers from around the area into the city. Later, in the same year, the BKU under the leadership of Sharad anantrao joshi lead the "Boat Club Rally" which witnessed a mass gathering of 800,000 farmers from western Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country into the boat club lawns of the upscale neighborhood between Udyog Bhavan and Krishi Bhavan in New Delhi. The crowd of protesting farmers who arrived with tractors and bullock carts stretched for 3 km from India Gate to Vijay Chowk. Their demands were that of the implementation of measures such as control over prices of sugarcane, loan waivers to farmers and lowering of water and power tariffs during the early stages of the process of economic liberalisation in India. The BKU achieved relative success in acquiring several concessions during this time period. The western Uttar Pradesh branch of the union was founded on 17 October 1986 by Mahendra Singh Tikait. It has 31 unions.