Bijnor: Fed up with repeated assurances, farmers under the banner of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) have threatened to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha elections if all the sugar mills do not clear their sugarcane dues within 14 days. They have put up a banner outside Bijnor sugar mill here with the message, “ Vaade ke anusaar, sarkaar kare hamaara bhugtaan, nahi toh Lok Sabha chunaav 2019 mei jila Bijnor ke kisaan karenge bahishkar (The government should clear our sugarcane dues within 14 days’ – as was promised by them — or farmers will boycott Lok Sabha 2019 elections).At a time when interim finance minister was reading the interim budget in Parliament on Friday, farmers were sitting on a dharna here outside the Bijnor sugar mill, owned by the Wave Group, with a banner clearly stating their intention — no pay, no vote.According to BKU’s district unit president Digambar Singh, “All the political parties prepare their manifestos before the polls and promise to fulfill them. When they come to power, they forget their manifesto and betray the public. BJP also had promised farmers that if it comes to power, sugarcane dues will be cleared within 14 days of cane delivery to the mills. But the situation has worsened.”Singh said, “Farmers are facing financial crisis here in the district. There are nine mills in the district which owe Rs 700 crore to them. Out of these, two mills — in Bijnor and Chandpur — have not even cleared last year’s dues. Farmers have failed to deposit school fee of their kids and making ends meet is a struggle. Many farmers have postponed weddings in their family because of the financial crunch.”The BKU leader said, “We farmers have now decided to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha polls if all mills do not clear their dues as per the promise made by BJP in its manifesto for the 2017 assembly polls. We have put up banners in this connection. Now, we will put up the same banner outside the houses of MLAs and MPs.”On being asked about the matter, district cane officer Yashpal Singh said, “I have asked the authorities of all mills in the district to clear the dues on time. Besides, FIRs were lodged against three mills — in Bijnor, Chandpur and Bilai — in this regard.”Giving details, Bijnor mill authorities claimed that they had applied for soft loan of Rs 83 crore which is still pending at the government level while other mills have been provided with it. They are hopeful that Bijnor and Chandpur mills will get soft loans soon and then clear previous year’s dues.”When contacted, Bijnor BJP MP Bhartendra Singh said, “I had met chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday in Lucknow and conveyed the grievances of the farmers. He assured me that he would resolve the problems soon. Apart from this, I had requested him to include Bijnor as part of Prayagraj expressway so that people here may be benefited.”

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