More batches of farmers from Punjab head for Delhi to take part in R-Day tractor parade
Farmer unions protesting the Centre s three farm laws had said they would go ahead with their tractor parade in Delhi on Republic Day.
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Tractors arrive for farmers at Singhu border during an ongoing protest against the new farm laws, in New Delhi. (Photo | PTI) By PTI
CHANDIGARH: More batches of farmers from Punjab on Sunday set out for Delhi to participate in the proposed tractor parade on January 26.
Farmer unions protesting the Centre s three farm laws had said they would go ahead with their tractor parade in Delhi on Republic Day.
Chandigarh, December 25
Amid the stalemate, farmers in Punjab on Friday stepped up their agitation, not allowing BJP leaders to hold functions in memory of Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his birth anniversary. In Jalandhar, Bharti Kisan Union (Rajewal) activists held a protest outside the residence of former Cabinet Minister Manoranjan Kalia. Several farmers received minor injuries as they tried to breach the police barricade outside Kalia’s house.
In Bathinda, farmers disrupted a function at Amrik Singh road, forcing the BJP workers to flee. A video of the incident went viral on the social media.
Farmers held a protest outside a hotel in Muktsar where a BJP function was underway. Sources said the BJP activists escaped from a back door of the hotel under police protection. Farmers led by the Krantikari Kisan Union picketed outside the residence of the Patiala district president of the BJP. While in Malout the farmers closed the gate of a hall where a BJP function was being held, a huge
“Currently, farmers in Punjab can sell their crop in government
mandis and even outside the government mandi to a private player, but the new law will restrict their sale only to private players,” he said, adding that the Bill does not favour farmers or give them freedom, and tips the scales in favour of private players.
Gurmail Singh of Jalandhar has been selling his seed potato and table potato to the traders of West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, UP and Andhra Pradesh for the past 15 years. “Nobody is stopping me from selling the crop in any mandi of the country and to anyone in the country so I am already enjoying this freedom. So what is new for me in these laws?” asked Gurmail Singh, who grows potatoes on over 100 acres of land, along with wheat and paddy which he sells in the government