Mahendra Singh Tikait
| Mahendra Singh Tikait | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
6 October 1935 Sisauli, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Died | 15 May 2011 (aged 75) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Profession | Farmer |
Mahendra Singh Tikait (6 October 1935 – 15 May 2011) was a leader of Jat farmers in the western area of Uttar Pradesh state, India. He was born in 1935 at village Sisauli in Muzaffarnagar District of Uttar Pradesh. He was President of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, a farmers' movement, and was revered as the farmers’ "second messiah" after the Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh.
Tikait died in Muzaffarnagar on 15 May 2011 from bone cancer at the age of 75.
The hereditary title of Tikait was apparently conferred on his family by the seventh-century emperor Harshavardhan. Since then the title has been transferred to the eldest son of the family.
Tikait had become the chaudhary of Baliyan Khap, at the age of eight after his father’s death.
Tikait first became a significant figure in 1987 when he organised a campaign in Muzaffarnagar demanding the waiving of electricity bills for farmers.
Tikait's most spectacular show was at Delhi's Boat Club lawns in 1988 when nearly five lakh farmers from western Uttar Pradesh occupied the entire stretch from Vijay Chowk to India Gate. Delhi's power elite held out until the stench became too much to bear and after a week, the Rajiv Gandhi government bowed to his 35-point charter of demands that included higher prices for sugarcane and the waiving of electricity and water charges for farmers.
In July 1990, Tikait protested in Lucknow with over two lakh farmers, urging the Government of Uttar Pradesh to concede to the farmers' demand for higher sugarcane prices and heavy rebates in electricity dues. The pressure tactics worked and the then Janata Dal-controlled government bowed to the demands.
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