Agra (UP), Sep. 6 (PTI): The BJP government should show respect to the protesting farmers and repeal the contentious farm laws, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Monday and added that the country would not tolerate any insult to the peasantry.
Talking to reporters here, Yadav referred to Sunday's 'kisan mahapanchayat' in Muzaffarnagar and said, "I congratulate the farmers for uniting against the three new farm laws. The kind of dreams that the BJP had shown to the farmers, it promised farmers' income will double. But their income did not double, instead inflation increased."
"The BJP government should have respected the struggle of the farmers and withdrawn the three farm laws. The nation will not accept any insult to the farmers," he added.
Yadav was in Agra to meet the family members of his party leaders who died during the second wave of Covid-19.
Yadav said the SP has left the Jaswantnagar assembly seat for the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), founded by his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav, to contest and added that his party respects the latter's associates.
On forming alliance for the 2022 assembly polls, he said that his party would tie up with smaller parties, but ruled out any coalition with the BSP.
"We had formed coalition with the BSP earlier, but this time it will not be done," he said.
On the decision of the AIMIM led by Asaduddin Owaisi to contest the UP polls, Yadav said the state is big and many more people would come here.