Amid the ongoing protest by farmers, Rakesh Tikait is one of the persons who have come out to be a leading voice in the ongoing agitation.

The national spokesperson of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) recently went on a hunger strike demanding that a Supreme Court-appointed committee should probe the violence that broke out on Republic Day in Delhi during the tractor march.

He refused to surrender even as the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government issued an ultimatum to the protesting farmers to vacate the Ghazipur border protest site.

With his considerable popularity in western Uttar Pradesh, Tikait’s leadership has been instrumental during the protests.

Here’s what you need to know about the farmer leader:

Rakesh Tikait is the son of another farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, who led lakhs of farmers to protest in Delhi against the Rajiv Gandhi government.

Before he became a farmer leader, Rakesh Tikait worked as a Sub Inspector after joining the Delhi police in 1985.

Born in the Sisauli village of Muzaffarnagar on June 4, 1969, Rakesh Tikait did an MA from the Meerut University. He later finished his LLB as well.

Rakesh has fought elections twice but lost both the times. He contested the UP Assembly election from the Khatauli assembly seat in Muzaffarnagar as an independent in 2007, but he lost the election. He later contested the Lok Sabha election as a candidate of the Rashtriya Lok Dal from Amroha in 2014, but he lost the poll again.

His brother Naresh Tikait is the chief of the Baliyan Khap Panchayat.

The 51-year-old has been jailed 44 times in connection with several farmers’ protests.