Bharatiya Kisan Union opposes deal with U.S., to burn effigies of Modi, Trump

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has announced a series of protests, including burning of the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump at all villages against the India-U.S. bilateral agreement.

BKU leader Rakesh Tikait told reporters in Delhi on Tuesday (February 10, 2026) that the Union Government had lost the trust of farmers and the trade agreements with the U.S. and the European Union would have far-reaching adverse impacts on farmers.

Mr. Tikait said a series of recent policy announcements, such as the Seeds Bill and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, were targeted against farmers. The peasants would support workers in the general strike convened by the Central Trade Unions on February 12.

Mr. Tikait said the actual texts of the trade agreements with the U.S. and the E.U. had still not been made public, and their details remain hidden behind a “veil of secrecy”. He demanded that India must withdraw completely from the agreements with the U.S. and the EU, or at the very least, remove all agriculture-related provisions from it.

“The EU and the U.S. provide massive subsidies to their farmers and possess huge agricultural surpluses, which they have consistently attempted to dump in countries like India. Unfortunately, the Government of India has signed these agreements without any consultation with farmer organisations and without assessing their impact on agriculture and farmers’ livelihoods. The non-disclosure of negotiation-related documents indicates that the government wants to hide the details of these agreements to contain nationwide farmer protests.”

Import of soybean oil

Mr. Tikait said the import of Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles (DDGs), a by-product of biofuel production used as animal feed, would severely depress domestic prices of crops used for animal feed and fodder in India, such as maize, sorghum, and soybean. “Imports of soybean oil from the U.S. will have a devastating impact on farm-gate prices of soybean, which are already significantly below the minimum support price (MSP) of ₹5,328. Soybean farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Rajasthan are already facing a severe price crisis, and this agreement will further worsen their situation,” he added.

The BKU leader termed the draft Seed Bill extremely destructive. “It increases seed prices, strengthens corporate control and exploitative pricing, and weakens the statutory protections granted to farmers under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001,” he said. On the Pesticide Management Bill, he said it protected the interests of the pesticide industry rather than those of farmers.

“It does not grant adequate regulatory or prohibitory powers to States, nor does it provide for price control, effective grievance redress, or accountability mechanisms,” he said. On the draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill, Mr. Tikait said the proposed legislation paved the way for privatisation and commercialisation of the power sector, reducing States to mere formal entities.