New Delhi: A day after observing Bharat Bandh, the farmers resumed their protest on the fifth day. The protesting farmers mostly from Punjab and Haryana resumed their protest on Saturday since the 'Delhi Chalo' march began on February 13. The Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) will on Saturday hold dharnas outside the residences of three senior BJP leaders in Punjab over their various demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP.
Apart from holding dharnas outside the homes of former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, the BJP's Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar and senior leader Kewal Singh Dhillon, the union will also hold protests at toll plazas in the state, extending support to the farmers' "Delhi Chalo" call. The Gurnam Singh Charuni-led Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni), which is based in Haryana, will on Saturday take out a tractor rally in solidarity with the protesting farmers.
Union ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai and farmer leaders will meet on Sunday for the fourth round of talks. The two sides met earlier on February 8, 12 and 15 but those talks remained inconclusive.
Farmers from Punjab began their march to the national capital on Tuesday (Feb. 13), but were stopped by security personnel at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana. The protesting farmers have been camping at the border points.
Besides a legal guarantee for MSP, the farmers are demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act - 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.
Here are the latest updates from the protest:
- 10.00 PM
The Haryana government on Saturday extended the ban on mobile internet and bulk SMS services in seven districts by two more days till February 19 in the wake of the farmers' agitation. The affected districts are Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa. The government had earlier extended the suspension of mobile internet on February 13 and 15. - 7.40 PM
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday announced that farmers will stage dharnas in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Uttarakhand on February 21 to press their demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP. Speaking to reporters after attending a panchayat in Sisauli here, Tikait said a resolution was passed during the meeting asking the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) to launch a tractor march to Delhi in the last week of February if the government does not accept farmers' demands. - 6.30 PM
The Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni) on Saturday took out a tractor march in Haryana while BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) held dharnas outside residences of three senior BJP leaders in support of farmers protesting at the borders of Punjab over their various demands. On the fifth day of their 'Delhi Chalo' march -- called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha -- the farmers stayed put at the Shambhu and Khanauri points of the Punjab-Haryana border as they pressed the Centre to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) for crops. - 4.48 PM
Around 100 farmers from different farmers associations were arrested at Thanjavur Railway station in Ramil on Saturday when they tried to stage a 'rail roko' protest in front of the Cholan Express. The group was protesting the police action against the farmers' agitation in New Delhi. P R Pandian, Ayyakannu and Sundaravimalanathan, presidents of the various farmers associations, participated in the 'rail roko'. - 3.00 PM
Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Ghulam Nabi Azad said the government should resolve the ongoing farmers' protest once for all. "This is the second time a protest is happening. I would like to request the government to resolve it once and for all. This (protest) is not right for them (government), farmers' and citizens of Delhi," he said. - 1.40 PM
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Saturday demanded that the Centre should bring an ordinance on giving a legal guarantee to MSP, a key demand of farmers currently camping at the Shambhu and the Khanauri points of the Punjab-Haryana border. The demand comes a day before the fourth round of talks between farm leaders and Union ministers over their various demands. - 10.45 AM
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and described the government as a 'curse' for the country's farmers. Kharge accused the government of treating farmers like enemies and asserted that only the Congress party can provide farmers with the legal right to a Minimum Support Price (MSP). - 9.55 AM
The Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) to hold dharnas outside the residences of three senior BJP leaders in Punjab. - 9.30 AM
The Gurnam Singh Charuni-led Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni), which is based in Haryana, will on Saturday take out a tractor rally in solidarity with the protesting farmers. - 9.05 AM
Hiralal, Sub-Inspector in Haryana Railway Police (GRP), who was posted at Shambhu border following the farmers' 'Delhi Chalo' march, passed away at the age of 52 after his health suddenly deteriorated while on duty, Haryana police said on Saturday. - 6.45 AM
The Sanyukta Kisan Morcha and the Tripura unit of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) on Friday called for protests in the state against the alleged security crackdown on agitating farmers amid their protests at various border points in the country. - 6.15 AM
Amidst the ongoing farmers' protest in Delhi, Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda on Friday said that efforts to find a solution continue and the next round of talks with farmers will take place on Sunday. - 6.05 AM
'Delhi Chalo' march resumes on day 5 after 'Bharat Bandh' in Punjab and Haryana.
