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Farmers stage sit-ins outside residence of Punjab BJP chief, others
Farm leaders claimed that 23 toll plazas in 13 districts in the state have been made toll-free; state president of a BKU (Dakaunda) faction Buta Singh Burjgill said top leaders of the SKM will meet at Kisan Bhawan in Chandigarh on Thursday to chalk out the next programme
Constituents of the Samyukt Kisam Morcha (SKM) and Ekta Ugrahan faction of the Bharti Kisan Union sat on dharna outside the residences of several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and made the highways toll-free in many districts of the state on Tuesday.
In the seven districts of southwest Punjab, sit-ins were held outside houses and offices of BJP leaders at seven places in five districts comprising Fazilka, Ferozepur, Muktsar, Moga and Mansa.
State general secretary of the Dhaner faction of BKU (Dakaunda) Harnek Mehma said the union activists joined BKU (Ugrahan) for a sit-in at the residence of BJP state president Sunil Jakhar at Panjkosi in Fazilka. Mehma said that the Dhaner faction, a member of SKM, also held protests outside the residences of former Punjab minister from Fazilka Surjit Jayani and the BJP national executive member from Ferozepur Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi. Activists of the Ugrahan group led by Mansa district president Ram Singh Bhaini Bagha staged a protest outside the BJP office, while in Jalandhar a protest was held outside BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia.
In Jalandhar, Kashmir Singh of BKU-Rajewal said the centre government has completely turned a blind eye towards the demands of the farmers.
“The government had backtracked from its promise made to the farmers after the Delhi protest in 2021,” he said.
In southwest Punjab, leaders of the SKM and Ekta Ugrahan reiterated that they are not part of any call of ‘Delhi Chalo’ but are supporting the idea of uniting different farmer unions at the national level. They said protests outside BJP leaders and dharnas at toll plazas will continue till February 22.
State president of a BKU (Dakaunda) faction Buta Singh Burjgill said top leaders of the SKM will meet at Kisan Bhawan in Chandigarh on Thursday to chalk out the next programme.
“Presently, the farmer agitation is limited only to Punjab and Haryana and SKM feels that all unions should come together to scale it up nationally. Demands like a legal guarantee to the MSP on crops are needed by the farming community across the country,” Burjgill said.
State general secretary of the BKU (Ugrahan) Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said that 23 toll plazas in 13 districts were made toll-free and round-the-clock dharnas at the booths would last another two days.
