The former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, has condoled the death of Bharatiya Kisan Union president and farmers' leader Mahendra Singh Tikait.
In a condolence message issued here on Monday, the Janata Dal (Secular) president said he was “deeply shocked and saddened” to hear about Tikait's death.
“He was a grass roots-level farmers' leader, who fought incessantly for the cause of ryots without any expectations and desire for power or pelf,” Mr. Gowda said.
After Chaudhury Charan Singh's death, Tikait emerged as the “messiah” for the farmers of western Uttar Pradesh and the voice of India's peasants. In his death, the nation had lost a selfless, uncompromising and illustrious crusader for the cause of farmers and the rural areas, and the farming community a courageous champion, Mr. Gowda said.
