The BJP on Wednesday came out in support of farmers' leader Mahendra Singh Tikait making a strong plea for withdrawal of cases against him.
Party chief Rajnath Singh attacked the Mayawati government for "harassing" Tikait, who was arrested earlier in the day for his alleged castiest remarks against the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.
"We demand that all the cases against Tikait be withdrawn immediately and he be released," Singh said in remarks seen as the party's attempts to reach out to the sizeable Jat community in western Uttar Pradesh.
Noting that Tikait has already apologised for his remarks against the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Singh asked the BSP government not to go ahead with the cases against the "veteran and respected" farmers' leader.
"We condemn the attempts of the UP government to pressurise Tikait. He has even said that Mayawati is like his daughter. Despite that he is being harassed," Singh told reporters in New Delhi.
He was talking after holding a kisan adalat (farmers court) at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, an exercise which the party has launched to take on the Centre on the issue of agrarian crisis.
Singh held the Congress squarely responsible for the agrarian distress, slammed the Rs 60,000 crore debt loan-waiver package as an eyewash and attacked the government on the issue of price rise.
He said the prices of essential commodities shoot up whenever Congress is in power.
