Haryana khap to hold 'mahapanchayat' today, Tikait warns of pan-India rally of 40 lakh tractors: 10 points

Elaborate security arrangements are in place at various border points near Delhi in the wake of the protests. The issue affected the proceedings of Parliament on Tuesday.

Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said late on Tuesday that the farmers protesting against the three central farm laws will take out a pan-India tractor rally if the government doesn't listen to them.

BKU spokesperson Rakesh Tikait. (ANI)

"We have given the govt time till October. If they do not listen to us, we will go on a pan-country tractor rally of 40 lakh tractors," he announced from the Ghazipur border near Delhi late on Tuesday. Tikait had earlier urged protesting farmers start preparing to stay till October, November.

Meanwhile, elaborate security arrangements are in place at various border points near Delhi in the wake of the protests.

Here are the 10 big developments:

• The supporters of the movement are organising a farmers’ "mahapanchayat" in Haryana’s Jind district on Wednewhere Rakesh Tikait will be present. Tight security arrangements have been put in place at Jind’s Kandela village for the event, Sarv Jatiya Kandela Khap head Tekram Kandela said on Tuesday. Several other khaps are also backing the agitation.
• In Delhi, the police have blocked roads near Akshardham and vehicular movement has been restricted between Delhi and Ghaziabad on National Highway 24. They have also erected cement barriers, barbed wire fencing and spikes on roads.
• Farmer unions had on Monday announced to block national and state highways for three hours in protest against the internet ban in areas near their agitation sites and the alleged harassment meted out to them by the authorities.
• The Haryana government has suspended internet in 17 districts. On Tuesday, it announced that the suspension has been extended till 5 pm on Wednesday.
• The issue of farmers' protest affected the proceedings of Parliament on Tuesday. Both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha faced repeated adjournments as opposition members disrupted proceedings, demanding a discussion on the central laws enacted last September.
• In Chandigarh, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh chaired an all-party meeting on Tuesday, which too passed a resolution seeking the withdrawal of the new laws which the protesting farmers say will lead to the weakening of the minimum support price (MSP) system.
• Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut visited Ghazipur Tuesday to meet BKU leader Rakesh Tikait and extend the "full support" of his party and the Maharashtra government to the agitation. Jharkhand's agriculture minister Badal Patralekh too visited the Ghazipur border and met Tikait. He said he is here to convey his "moral support".
• International pop icon Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg extended support to protesting farmers, sharing articles about internet suspension. Rihanna demanded a discussion around it, to which actor Kangana Ranaut reacted, saying "they are not farmers but terrorists who are trying to divide India".
• Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked the government over barricades and roadblocks set up at farmer agitation sites at Delhi's borders, and asked the Centre to "build bridges and not walls".
• Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three farm laws: Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.