Farmers To Protest Outside Houses Of BJP MPs, MLAs

FILE PHOTO: Women farmers attend a protest against farm laws on the occasion of International Women's Day at Bahadurgarh, near the Haryana-Delhi border

Farmers protesting against the contentious farm laws will hold demonstrations outside the residences of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmakers across the country on Saturday, a Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) office-bearer said on Friday. The protest outside the residences of BJP MPs and MLAs is to mark one year of the promulgation of these laws as ordinances by the Centre, the official said.

“The protestors would burn the copies of the legislations outside the residence of BJP MPs and MLAs across the country as a symbolic protest against the Centre,” BKU media in-charge Dharmendra Malik told PTI.

“In districts where there is no BJP MP or MLA, the protest would take place outside the District Magistrate’s office,” he added. The decision for the June 5 protest was taken during a recent meeting of leaders of the farmers’ associations and unions which are camping on Delhi borders since November 2020.

Hundreds of farmers are encamped at Delhi’s borders demanding that the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.

However, the government, which has held multiple rounds of formal dialogue with the protestors, has maintained that the laws are pro-farmer.

Meanwhile, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait on Friday said the Centre will agree to withdraw the contentious farm laws by 2024, reported Hindustan Times. “(The) government will definitely agree to (scrap the laws). The laws will be withdrawn by 2024. It’s certain. In three years, the laws will go,” the BKU leader said on his birthday. He, however, did not mention the reasons behind his assertion.

Tikait said the farmers protesting against the farm laws at the borders of the national capital will not leave Delhi at any cost, news agency PTI reported.

While speaking at a gathering of farmers, Tikait also alleged that the Centre wants to relocate the ongoing farmers’ agitation from the Delhi borders to Haryana. “The Central government wants to shift the movement to Haryana. We will not allow this. We won’t let the government succeed in its ploy. We will not leave Delhi at any cost,” he said.

(PTI)