Farmers affiliated to the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) flagged off the ‘Kisan Kranti Yatra’ on September 23 from Haridwar’s Baba Tikait Ghat, named after the legendary leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, who established the BKU in western UP. The march comes 30 years after farmers led by Tikait famously brought Delhi to a standstill for a week, forcing the Rajiv Gandhi government to accept all their demands. It is now led by Naresh Tikait, president of the BKU, and Rakesh Tikait, who is the national spokesperson. The march is BKU’s first major national-level protest since Mahendra Tikait died in 2011.