Rakesh Tikait and Naresh Tikait: Who are They?

NEW DELHI: When the Government was putting pressure on the farmers to end their protest at the Delhi border as well as some farmers' unions withdrawing from the protest, leaders of the movement are starting to differ on the future course of action.

Differences within the leadership of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), the two brothers held different thoughts which were out in the open on Thursday.

The president of Bharatiya Kisan Union, Naresh Tikait said the protest at the Ghazipur site will end as there was pressure from the administration to vacate the space. However, Rakesh Tikait, the spokesperson of the union, said the protest will not end.

"I will commit suicide but won't end protest until the farm bills are repealed," said Rakesh Tikait. "We want to court arrest peacefully. But it seems there is a plan to stir violence while protesters return. If there is any such plan, I will remain here. I will face the bullet," he added.

Naresh Tikait told supporters in a gathering in Muzaffarnagar earlier in the day "Don't be disappointed. Today the protest at Ghazipur will also get over. It's better to vacate than getting beaten up police".

Naresh Tikait is the chief of the Baliyan Khap Panchayat which is the biggest Jat body in western UP. The Tikait brothers played a crucial role in organizing the farmers' protest at the Ghazipur site at the Delhi-UP border where thousands of farmers from the BKU have been camping since November 28.

Their father Mahendra Singh Tikait was an influential figure of Muzzaffarnagar. He had founded the Uttar Pradesh branch of Bharatiya Kisan Union, which was originally founded by Chaudhary Charan Singh who later became the Prime Minister.

As Nakesh is at Muzaffarnagar, he called a Mahapanchayat on Friday.

Nakesh Tikait's insistence came in the wake of the pressure from the local administration as he said it's better to vacate than getting beaten up by police.

After Rakesh Tikait held the fort at Ghazipur and many protesters joined the Ghazipur site, Naresh Tikait said, "The tears of Choudhary Mahendra Singh's younger son won't go in vain. In Mahapanchayat, I will take the decision to take this protest to a decisive stage," he said on social media.

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