LUCKNOW: (TIP): The resentment among Uttar Pradesh farmers, especially sugarcane growers and potato cultivators, may snowball into protests if timely steps are not taken to prevent the simmering agrarian distress from going the Madhya Pradesh way, farmer bodies have warned.

A faction of one of the organisations–the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)–has even threatened to cut off supply of milk and vegetables to cities from Sunday if their demand for a CBI probe and an FIR into the police firing in Mandsaur, that claimed five lives, are not met.

Taking a cue from their Madhya Pradesh counterparts, farmers in western Uttar Pradesh are gearing up to raise their own issues, ranging from unpaid dues to poor procurement infrastructure, which, they claimed, have not been adequately addressed by the Yogi Adityanath government despite numerous promises and repeated assurances.

The activities of cow protection vigilantes in the recent times had added more trouble to the sector, they said.

The farmers in UP have been closely following the agitations of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, considering the stirs as their roadmap for the future. Under the banner of the BKU, a procession was taken out here on Wednesday to express solidarity with the agitating farmers of Madhya Pradesh and condemn the police action on them in Mandsaur.

“Now, with these agitations, there is renewed energy among us. There is no end to the problems we face. We will also join the fight,” said Rakesh Tikait, president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union.

His views have been echoed by leaders of other farmer groups. Another faction of the BKU submitted a memorandum addressed to the prime minister to the Lucknow district magistrate on Wednesday, demanding an FIR against officers responsible for the “unfortunate police firing” in Mandasur and a CBI probe.