Beginnings The first chapter of the BKS to be formed was its
Rajasthan branch, founded on 13 March 1978. The all India organisation of the BKS was announced by Dattopant Thengadi on 4 March 1979 at the first All India Conference of BKS in
Kota. The 650 delegates at the 1979 conference had been handpicked by Thengadi, who travelled across the country to meet with farmers' representatives. The launch of the BKS was preceded by earlier efforts of RSS to organise the peasantry. In the 1960s, RSS had organised farmers in the
Vidarbha region, and again in 1972 in
Uttar Pradesh. The RSS effort to build an agrarian front, parallel to
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh trade union movement, had however failed to attract major mass support.
1980s On 26 February 1981 the BKS held a mass rally at the
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly in
Hyderabad, the first major farmers' mobilisation after the
Green Revolution. The organising of peasants in areas of Andhra Pradesh such as
Karimnagar district,
Nizamabad district and
Warangal district led to tensions with the dominant
Naxal movement in the area, and in February 1984 BKS Karimnagar District Secretary Gopal Reddy and Ramchander Rao (a RSS
Tehsil-level organiser) were killed in
Jagityal. In July 1985 BKS organised a mass rally at the
Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, a protest movement that forced the state government to lower electricity prices. The campaign began in October 1986, following two years of drought in the state. On 1 January 1987 a mass rally of 400,000 people was held in Vijaypur. The BKS leadership was arrested and the organisation declared an indefinite state-wide
bandh following the clashes. The 1986–1987 Gujarat movement was marked by a competition between BKS (based mainly in northern Gujarat, with some influence in central Gujarat) and the Khedut Samaj and Kisan Sanghatana (based in south Gujarat).
Later history With its base among wealthier farmers, BKS supported the privatisation of inputs and increased mechanisation of agriculture in the 1990s. BKS held its sixth national conference in
Hastinapur in 1999, addressed by RSS
sarsanghchalak Rajendra Singh. At the time, Kunvarji Bhai Jadhav, was the BKS president. Anand Prakash Singhal, elder brother of VHP head Ashok Singhal and a US-educated agriculturist, played a significant role in the BKS. He was instrumental in India obtaining the patent for cow urine. ==Political line==