Kisan Kranti Padyatra: Farmers reject Rajanth Singh’s assurance; protest to continue

Bharatiya Kisan Union President Naresh Tikait said, “Farmers rejected Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s assurance and would continue to protest as they are not satisfied with the centre’s response.” Almost 30,000 farmers were stopped at Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border when they were entering the capital early today.

The Delhi Police had used tear gas shells and water cannons to disperse the huge crowds. There were several barricades were put up to prevent the protesting farmer from entering the Delhi. After protesting the entire day, farmers are not going to call off their protest saying they are not satisfied with the centre’s response.

When asked Delhi Police’s action on protesting farmer, they told ANI, “Despite persuasive methods requesting them to wait till outcome of talks of their leaders with govt, a section of crowd turned violent & tried to break barricades forcefully through tractor-trolleys & were also carrying lathis: Delhi Police on today’s action on protesting farmers.”

Thousands of angry farmer protesting as part of their ‘Kisan Kranti Padyatra’ demanding loan waiver, subsidised electricity bill and pension from farmers above 60 and implementation of recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission.

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, told news agency ANI that farmer leaders who met Home Minister Rajnath Singh today and discussed their demands have reached an agreement on a majority of the issues.

But, the members of the ‘Bharatiya Kisan Union’ which organised the farmers’ march say that they haven’t reached an agreement on the full implementation of the Swaminathan report regarding the minimum selling price (MSP), and their demand of one-time complete loan waiver.

“We had a discussion on 11 points. The government agreed on seven and didn’t agree on the rest. They said they will discuss those points get us back to us, as if it is a financial matter,” Yudhvir Singh, Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson quoted by NDTV as saying.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on farmers’ protest told ANI, “For the first time since independence, farmers came into the agenda of a government which is evident from the work done by BJP govt in the past 4.5 years for farmers. BJP government led by PM Narendra Modi solved all the issues of the farmers.”

For the first time since independence, farmers came into the agenda of a government which is evident from the work done by BJP govt in the past 4.5 years for farmers. BJP government led by PM Narendra Modi solved all the issues of the farmers: UP CM Yogi Adityanath pic.twitter.com/g8mPdKZyF7

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 2, 2018

Also read: Kisan Kranti Padyatra: Delhi police use tear gas, water cannons to stop farmers