Farmers Launch 'Mission Uttar Pradesh', To Campaign Against BJP In UP Assembly Polls

"Our next stop will be Uttar Pradesh, BJP`s heartland. Our Uttar Pradesh mission will begin on September 5. We will totally isolate BJP,” farmer leader Prem Singh Bhangu said at the Singhu border.

File Photo: PTI

New Delhi: The farmer unions opposing the three disputed central farm laws established a “Mission Uttar Pradesh” campaign on Thursday against the BJP in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

The campaign will kick off on September 5 and run until the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

"Our next stop will be Uttar Pradesh, BJP`s heartland. Our Uttar Pradesh mission will begin on September 5. We will totally isolate BJP,” farmer leader Prem Singh Bhangu told ANI at the Singhu border.

READ: 'Not Farmers, They Are Hooligans': Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi On Kisan Sansad At Jantar Mantar

“There is no alternative other than to repeal three farm laws. We are ready for talks,” he told ANI reporters.

The farmer leader's comment comes as hundreds of farmers protest at the Jantar Mantar on Thursday, seeking the repeal of new agricultural rules.

The farmers were earlier on Wednesday allowed to stage a demonstration at the Jantar Mantar after the Delhi Police obtained an assurance from them that the farmers would not advance towards the Parliament, which is presently in session.

Security has been ramped up along the Singhu border, where the farmers have assembled from several protest sites on Thursday and are marching to the Jantar Mantar.

The farmers have been allowed to demonstrate at the Jantar Mantar from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. everyday in groups of not more than 200 for the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and six for the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC).

They have also been granted permission to hold rallies by the Delhi government, subject to all Covid-19 regulations being followed. The farmers would be escorted by the police in buses from the Singhu border to the chosen protest site at the Jantar Mantar, according to a statement published late Wednesday by the Delhi Police.

The farmers have been protesting on various borders of the national capital since November 26 last year in opposition to three recently enacted farm laws: the 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.

Multiple rounds of meetings have taken place between the Centre and the farmer representatives so far to break the standoff.