Rakesh Tikait - Biography

Farmers' rights advocate, politician, and Bharatiya Kisna Union national spokesperson is Rakesh Tikait. He is the deceased Mahendra Singh Tikait's son, who was a prominent farmer's leader in India's independent history. Following his involvement in the farmers' protest against the three farm regulations passed by the Indian Parliament in September 2020, Rakesh Tikait rose to fame 2020.

Gemini is his astrological sign. In the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh's Sisauli village, Rakesh Tikait was born on June 4, 1969. In 1988, he graduated from the Uttar Pradesh Board of High School and Intermediate Education. In 1986, he graduated from high school at Kisan Inter College in Lalu Kheri, Muzaffarnagar, after attending D.A.V. Inter College in Sisauli, Muzaffarnagar. His next stop was Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Meerut, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.

The Parents and Siblings

Rakesh Tikait is the younger child of Mahendra Singh Tikait, a well-known farmer activist who dedicated his entire life to defending the rights of farmers. After Chaudhary Charan Singh, India's fifth Prime Minister, Mahendra was regarded as their second messiah by the farming community.

On May 15, 2011, 76-year-old Mahendra Singh Tikait died from bone cancer. Baljori Devi, Rakesh Tikait's mother, has also passed away. Naresh Singh Tikait, the eldest brother of Tikait, serves as the organization's president (B.K.U.). After his father passed away, Naresh Tikait was granted the position. In addition to Naresh, Rakesh has two older brothers, Surendra Tikait, manager of a sugar factory in Meerut, and Narendra Tikait, a farmer, and two sisters.

Children & Wife

Sunita Devi is the wife of  Rakesh Tikait.  Seema and Jyoti are the daughters, and Charan Singh Taikit is the son of the Tikait.

Career

As a Police Officer

For a brief time, Rakesh Tikait served as a Delhi Police policeman. During the 1992–1993 farmers' protest, which his father, Mahendra Singh Tikait, organized, he resigned from his position with the Delhi Police to join the campaign.

Politics

Rakesh Tikait has run for office in two separate elections. First, Rakesh ran as an independent candidate for the Khatauli assembly seat in Muzaffarnagar in the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election. In that race, he only managed to receive 9,095 votes. Rakesh Tikait joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal on March 14, 2014; Ajit Singh, Chaudhary Charan Singh's son, formed the organization. Considering that he had previously disparaged R.L.D. and backed the Bharatiya Janata Party, his choice to join R.L.D. surprised many.

Leading Farmers

In 1997, Rakesh Tikait was chosen to represent Bharatiya Kisan Union at the federal level. He has been defending the rights of farmers ever since.

Protesting

Rakesh Tikait allegedly urged that the Rajasthani government double the price at which farmers purchased millet. After the administration rejected the demand, he later staged a rally in opposition to it. As a result, the Rajasthani government raised the millet's price for farmers. During the protest, Rakesh was also detained and taken to jail in Jaipur.

Net Worth

Rakesh Tikait's affidavit, which he submitted to the Election Commission of India in 2014, estimates his net worth to be Rs. 4.1 crore.

Facts

• Rakesh and Tikait family members carry the ancestral title "Tikait," which Raja Harshavardhana, the Jat king of Thanesar in the seventh century, bestowed upon the head of Baliyan Khap. Since then, every Baliyan Khap head and his male family members have adopted it as their surname. The current leader of the Baliyan Khap is Rakesh Tikait's brother, Naresh Tikait, who assumed the position in 2011 after his father, Mahendra Singh Tikait, passed away.
• After the death of Rakesh's father, the Bharatiya Kisan Union's leadership was given to Rakesh's eldest brother, Naresh Tikait, but Rakesh continued to make all of the organization's main decisions.
• Rakesh Tikait has reportedly spent more than 40 times in jail for holding demonstrations in support of farmers' rights. He is the subject of three active criminal investigations.
• Police have already detained Mahendra Singh Tikait on multiple occasions. The most dramatic moment in his life occurred in 2008 when over 10,000 police officers besieged the village of Sisauli to arrest Mahendra Singh Tikait. This occurred when Mahendra purportedly made a harsh casteist remark during his address at a farmers' rally in the Bijnor district against the then-CM of UP, Mayawati. The police could not access the village because of the thousands of Mahendra Singh's supporters who acted as a shield. As a result, there were extensive fights between Mahendra's followers and the police. Later, after turning himself up to the Bijnor court, Mahendra was freed after issuing an apology.
• Mahendra Singh Tikait, a seasoned farmer leader, was also renowned for his straightforwardness.
• He would typically sit among the farmers rather than on the stage, even during protests.