the “kisan neta” for the entire nation. However, when he saw that others present seemed to support Joshi’s view he withdrew his stand at least temporarily. Rest of the meeting was fruitful. The date of 2 October 1989 was fixed for this rally and the Boat Club at Delhi was finalized as the venue. Joshi poured himself into the preparations for that rally. He and his colleagues travelled throughout Maharashtra addressing the gatherings. “Chalo Delhi” was the slogan that reverberated after each meeting. In a way that rally was to be a show of strength for Joshi in Delhi. Thousands of farmers, and jawans as well, from Maharashtra travelled all the way to Delhi. Many reached a day prior. That was not a government-sponsored jamboree. All farmers paid for their own fares and food. On the morning of October 2, atmosphere in Delhi was charged with anticipation of what was going to happen that afternoon. Farmers rally had received a lot of publicity in the morning papers and everybody was talking about it. Farmers from other States had also reached Delhi. Those from Punjab and Haryana had come in their tractors which were parked near the venue along the main road and sideways. Delhi had rarely seen such a massive cheering and slogan-shouting crowd of farmers like this descending on the city. Politicians from all parties were quite shaken by this show of strength. Nearly four to five lakh farmers had filled the open space at Boat Club. Everyone was eagerly waiting for the rally to start. As the anticipated moment was nearing, something strange began to happen on stage. Tikait and his supporters were creating an ugly ruckus. In a way, every effort was made to keep him happy; even his famous hukka was placed on the stage. But it seemed he was determined to disturb the rally. It seemed that someone had told him that Joshi had called on Rajiv Gandhi earlier in the morning for some secret negotiations. Perhaps Devi Lal had poisoned his mind. Perhaps it was his own Farmers on the National Agenda
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