Tohana police station in Haryana has emerged as a new rallying point in the farmers’ movement against the three laws forced on them by the Narendra Modi government last year, with tents being pitched at the site as part of a “jail bharo” campaign after three protesters were arrested and a ruling alliance MLA hurled abuses at them.
The siege began on Saturday and had not been lifted till late on Sunday evening. The farmers were insistent that the police drop the charges against the three farmer leaders, one of whom was arrested on a complaint filed by Devinder Babli, an MLA of the JJP, a partner in the BJP-led government in the state.
Late in the evening, JJP’s Devinder Babli demanded that his party withdraw support to the BJP. “We have lost the moral ground to be in power. I will meet our leader and Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala in the morning and urge him to forgo his position and support the motion. Most of our MLAs want to support the motion. The government, in any case, will still have the numbers,” he said. JJP’s Ram Kumar Gautam and Jogi Ram Sihag, who had earlier spoken against the central farm laws in the House, said they were with the Khattar government.