Rakesh Tikait (born 4 June 1969) is a national spokesperson of the

Bharatiya Kisan Union Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) (English: Indian Farmers' Union) is a farmer's representative organisation in India. It was founded by Chaudhary Charan Singh from the ''Punjab Khetibari Union'' (Punjab Farming Union) which became its Punjab branch. ...

(BKU) from

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Early life

Tikait was born on 4 June 1969 in Sisauli town of

Muzaffarnagar Muzaffarnagar is a city under Muzaffarnagar District in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated midway on the Delhi - Haridwar/ Dehradun National Highway (NH 58) and is also well connected with the national railway network. It is ...

, Uttar Pradesh. He is the son of a prominent farmer leader and BKU co-founder late

Mahendra Singh Tikait Mahendra Singh Tikait (6 October 1935 – 15 May 2011) was an Indian farmer leader from the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. He was born in 1935 at village Sisauli in Muzaffarnagar District of Uttar Pradesh. He was President of the Bharatiya Ki ...

. His eldest brother is Naresh Tikait, who is the National President of the BKU.

Career

Tikait graduated with an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree from

Meerut University Chaudhary Charan Singh University (CCS University), formerly Meerut University, is a public state university located in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. The university was established in 1965. It was later renamed to its current name after Chaud ...

and then did

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

after that. He joined Delhi Police in 1992, as constable then Sub Inspector, but left Delhi police in 19931994. After leaving the police, he joined the BKU. After the death of his father, Tikait officially joined BKU and later became its spokesperson. In 2018, Tikait was the leader of Kisan Kranti Yatra from

Haridwar Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district. The city is situated on the ri ...

Uttrakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

. Tikait had contested the 2007 UP Assembly elections from the Khatauli seat as a candidate of the Bahujan Kisan Dal (BKD) party (with

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

support), only to finish a distant sixth. In the 2014 Indian general election, he fought on a

Rashtriya Lok Dal Rashtriya Lok Dal (abbreviated as RLD) (translation: National People's Party) is a political party in India founded by Chaudhary Ajit Singh. He was carrying on the political legacy of his father and former Prime Minister of India, Chaudhary Ch ...

ticket from

Amroha Amroha is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is located north-west of Moradabad, near the Ganga River. It is the administrative headquarters of the Amroha district. Geography Amroha is located north-west of Moradabad, near th ...

Lok Sabha constituency.

2020-21 Farmers protest

In November 2020, his organization BKU joined the

2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest The 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest was a protest against three farm acts that were passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020. The acts, often called the Farm Bills, have been described as "anti-farmer laws" by many farmer unions ...

, demanding declaration of MSP as a legal right, exclusion of farmers from the law to curb pollution to allow burning of crops (consensus to which was reached during the sixth round of talks between the Centre and Farmer Union) and removal of the farm bills."Our biggest concern is that operations in mandis and outside would be different. While mandis would levy taxes, there would be no tax or market fee outside. The government is not abolishing the Agricultural Produce Market Committees directly. However, the mandi system enables an assured minimum support price, which will collapse gradually" said Rakesh Tikait. After violence broke out in the National Capital on 26 January (

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...

), Delhi Police filed an FIR against Rakesh Tikait and a few other farmer leaders for their role in inciting violence on

and breach of the NOC issued by Delhi Police.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tikait, Rakesh 1969 births People from Muzaffarnagar district Indian farmers Farmers' rights activists Living people Indian politicians Leaders of 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest