AMBALA: A group of over one hundred farmers protesting against the Centre's farm laws on Tuesday showed black flags to Union minister Rattan Lal Kataria in Jandli village adjoining Ambala city.
The Union minister of state for Jal Shakti was accompanied by the BJP MLA from Ambala city, Aseem Goel, and some local party leaders.
Kataria, who is an MP from Ambala, had come to Jandli village to lay the foundation stone of an underbridge on the Ambala-Rajpura rail section.
The farmers, most of them youths, waved black flags outside the venue while Kataria was speaking.
They also raised anti-government slogans and asked the minister and other BJP leaders to go back.
A farmer leader, Charanjit Singh, said that the state government was falsely claiming that none of the farmers from Haryana were participating in the ongoing protest against farm laws near Delhi's borders.
He said there was great resentment among the farmers of Haryana against the farm laws and a large number of them were already camping at Delhi borders.
Singh said that they would not allow any minister or MLA to enter their village till the demands of protesting farmers were fulfilled.
After the function got over, Kataria, who is also the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, was taken to his car under police escort.
The farmers continued to raise slogans and wave black flags till the minister left the site.
Shortly before he got into his car, Kataria in a brief interaction with reporters, took a dig at the protesters.
"Those behind me who are showing black flags and raising slogans, if they have to think of nobody else, at least they should think about development of Ambala.
Did they have to show black flags here only," he said.
"I pray to God with folded hands let good sense prevail on those showing black flags.
They should study farm laws deeply and then they would know these are really for their benefit," he said.