After the Republic Day tractor parade violence, the agitation seemed as good as over with cases filed against farmer leaders and several protest sites, like the one at Chilla border and another on the Delhi-Agra highway in Palwal, folding up. Tikait is seen to have almost single-handedly turned the course with his combativeness, becoming a talking point much beyond his sphere of influence, in villages of Haryana and Punjab.
On Thursday, when police staged a flag march and the Ghaziabad administration served the eviction notice to him, Tikait himself had seemed demoralised. The mood at UP Gate was one of defeat and dejection as police prepared to clear the site. The tide began turning after Tikait grabbed the mike when administration officials came to speak to him and gave an emotionally charged speech. “I will commit suicide. We will stay put and will not leave the spot,” he said. “Attempts are being made by BJP to end the movement, but it will not end. These famers are my responsibility. I will not let it happen.” The words echoed in Muzaffarnagar, his base, and other districts of western UP, which mobilised a large number of farmers to UP Gate immediately.