Chandigarh: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is visiting Punjab on Sunday, will provide financial assistance to the families of farmers, who were killed during the protests against the now repealed controversial farm laws. KCR will provide Rs 3 lakh cheque each to the families of the 600 farmers in Chandigarh, who lost their lives during the agitation on the Delhi border.
He will be accompanied by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The event is being held at the Tagore Theatre, Chandigarh. As many as 700 farmers were killed during the 378 days of agitation of which 600 farmers belonged to Punjab. The farm laws were later withdrawn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
But the very next day, the Telangana Chief Minister announced financial assistance to the farmers' families. The Punjab government had already given government jobs and compensation of Rs 5 lakh to these families. The Punjab Agriculture Department has directed all the District Agriculture Officers to bring the families of the farmers, who lost their lives during the Kisan Andolan, to the Tagore Theatre. This is perhaps the first time that the families of a deceased farmers of Punjab have been given such a huge compensation by the Chief Minister of another state.
New front being formed: Apart from the compensation for the farmers, the visit by KCR has also speculated about a new front being formed in the country against the BJP ahead of the 2014 general elections. On Saturday, KCR met ex-UP CM Akhilesh Yadav in Delhi and later visited the Delhi Mohalla clinics, along with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
It is said Kejriwal is also in touch with West Bengal CM Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to join them. In February last, KCR met his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray as part of an effort to bring together various like-minded parties against the BJP at the national level against the BJP.
Also read: KCR meets Akhilesh in Delhi, to hold meetings with Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann
