111 Of Tamil Nadu Farmers Who Protested In Delhi, Set To Contest Polls Against PM Narendra Modi In Varanasi

In 2017, they took the country by storm, after they launched a massive protest in Delhi, with the heater to unseen and unheard ways of protesting.

A group of farmers from Tamil Nadu had come all the way to the national capital with the skulls and bones of their loved ones who killed themselves due to the mounting debts.

BCCL/ FILE

The group of some 150 farmers had raised a set of demands including farm loan waiver, drought relief and interlinking of rivers.

With their demands falling in deaf ears, the farmers led by Ayakannu did some unthinkable acts like eating dead rats to flogging themselves and even drinking urine.?

After sitting on protest for 45 days, the government finally conceded and agreed to look into their demands.

BCCL/ FILE

Now almost two years after their protests, the farmers are back, not with another demonstration, but this time they have decided to take the fight to the doorsteps of PM Modi.

Ayyakannu said that 111 farmers from the state will contest against Modi from Varanasi to urge the BJP to include in their manifesto that their demands, including "profitable prices for farm produce," would be fulfilled.

"Moment they assure in their manifesto that our demands will be fulfilled, we will drop our decision to contest against Modi," he told PTI.

BCCL/ FILE

Asked why they were raising the demand with BJP alone and not other parties like the Congress to include it in their manifestos, he said the BJP was still the ruling party and Modi the Prime Minister.

"We are not against the BJP or our PM Modi. Before assuming power, Modi promised to fulfill our demands and assured to double our income. Even today he is our Prime Minister and the BJP is the ruling party and that is why we are making this demand to them," he clarified.