‘Tardy’ paddy procurement: BKU activists stage protests outside AAP leaders’ houses

Protesters also hold sit-ins in front of the residences of senior BJP leaders Jagdeep Singh Nakai in Bathinda’s Rampura and Arvind Khanna in Barnala

Expanding their agitation against the “tardy” procurement of paddy, activists of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU Ekta Ugrahan) started dharnas in front of the houses of 17 legislators and six ministers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday.

BKU Ekta Ugrahan members protest against Punjab government outside MLA Jagroop Singh Gill’s housae in Bathinda on Friday. Sanjeev Kumar/HT

Protesters also held sit-ins in front of the residences of the senior BJP leaders Jagdeep Singh Nakai in Bathinda’s Rampura and Arvind Khanna in Barnala.

As the Ekta Ugrahan volunteers continue to hold dharnas at 25 toll plazas, the union is now holding protests at 50 different spots.

Union general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan said the agitation will continue until their demands are met.

“The farmers are facing hardships in selling crop as the government agencies are not procuring it on various pretexts, mainly more moisture content than the permissible limit of 17%. We had been waiting for the procurement to pick up pace for over two weeks, but it is not happening even after the farmers blocked road and rail traffic on October 13 in support of their demands of smooth procurement operations,” said Kokri Kalan.

He also condemned the action of the Chandigarh Police where several farmer leaders were detained in the state capital today.

In Bathinda, farmers started dharna outside the residences of four AAP legislators namely- Jagroop Singh Gill in Bathinda city; Baljinder Kaur in Talwandi Sabo; master Jagsir Singh in Bhucho and Balkar Singh in Rampura Phul.

Senior union leader Shingara Singh Mann accused the Union government of formulating policies to promote corporate sectors while ignoring the interests of the agrarian community.