New Delhi: Farmers on Friday started moving towards Madina Toll Plaza on Rohtak-Hisar national highway and Makrauli Toll Plaza on Rohtak- Panipat highway, where they will be holding ‘chakka jam’ stir for three hours from 12 noon to 3 pm, as part of the Gramin Bharat Bandh.
It is likely to affect routes in Punjab, causing potential traffic diversions and delays.
The ‘Bharat Bandh’ call given by the Left-affiliated trade and Samyukta Kisan Morcha, to press for their demands, including a minimum support price (MSP) guarantee, began at 6 am and will continue until 4 pm. Several farmer bodies, including Bharti Kisan Union (Rajewal), Bharatiya Kisan Union (Dakunda), Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal), Bharatiya Kisan Union (Qadian) and Kirti Kisan Union, are taking part in the bandh.
Commuters in Punjab faced inconvenience as over 5,000 buses stayed off the roads with employees of state-owned Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and private public transport bus operators in Punjab on Friday joining the strike. Petroleum dealers in Punjab also closed filling stations. Activists of several farmer associations were seen asking traders at several places to keep their shops and business establishments closed to mark the protest. The impact of the shutdown was also seen in neighbouring Haryana, where shops and commercial establishments downed shutters, the TOI reported.
The Bharat Bandh call has come amid the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protests by hundreds of farmers, who have been stopped at the Haryana borders near Ambala, which is around 200 kilometres away from Delhi.
Meanwhile, General Secretary of Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, Sarwan Singh Pandher, has urged an intervention from the part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the farmers’ issues adding that they would like to solve the issues ‘amicably’. The third round of talks with the central government had ended in a stalemate. Union Minister Arjun Munda, however, asserted that the discussion was “positive” and another round of talks would be held on Sunday.
The farmer leaders said that they will continue to stay put at the two border points between Punjab and Haryana, according to PTI.
The Hindustan Times also reported about death of a 70-year-old farmer, who was protesting at the Shambhu barrier on the Punjab Haryana border, this morning. Farmer was rushed to the nearest civil hospital Rajpura around 4 am but died during treatment.
In Odisha, protests and picketing were seen at different places, including Bhubaneswar. Bus services and mining remain suspended in Rourkela, sources said.
