India, Feb. 27 -- New Delhi: The farmers' protests have brought the focus sharply on one big ticket question: Where are the farmers' leaders? India lacks a tall farmers' leader even since the days of Sir Chhotu Ram, Chaudhary Charan Singh, Mahendra Singh Tikait, and others such as the Kisan Kesri Baldev Ram Mirdha (Rajasthan Kisan Sabha), Sahajanand Saraswati (All India Kisan Sabha) or N.C. Ranga (Swatantra Party).

However, the agitation has given a new lease of life to some leaders, a collection from which the Tikait brothers stand out. The politically inclined Rakesh Tikait lost his last election from Amroha in 2014 on an RLD ticket and the 2007 UP state polls from Khatauli on a Congress ticket, and also admits to having voted BJP in 2...