CHANDIGARH: Farmers under the banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha held a ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ in Pipli on Sunday and asked people to defeat the BJP in the upcoming Haryana assembly polls.
The two farmer groups have been spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march by farmers to press the government to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price for crops.
The protesting farmers have been staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 when their march was stopped by security forces.
Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh took part in the ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ in Pipli and also decided to hold a ‘rail roko’ protest on October 3 in the country in support of their demands.
Addressing the gathering, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said the time has come to take revenge for the “atrocities” committed on farmers by the BJP government in Haryana. “Now the farmers will take revenge,” he said.
Accusing the BJP government in Haryana of using force against farmers, Pandher said, “We will play an important role in the defeat of the BJP in Haryana and will take account of the atrocities committed against the farmers.”
According to a statement issued by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, farmer leaders appealed to the people of Haryana to think before casting their votes what the present government did for farmers in the last 10 years.
It said the BJP’s defeat in Haryana would be a fitting tribute to Shubhkaran Singh who was killed during clashes at Khanauri border point on the Punjab-Haryana border on February 21.
Several farmer leaders, including Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Manjit Singh Rai, Jaswinder Singh Longwal, Surjit Singh Phool, and Amarjit Singh Mohri were present at the kisan mahapanchayat.
The BJP-led Haryana government, recently, extended minimum support price to a variety of crops to gain farmers support.