Kisan Mahapanchayat HIGHLIGHTS: Farmers Arrive At Ramila Maidan, Delhi Sees Major Traffic Restrictions
Farmers' 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' HIGHLIGHTS: Please follow this space for all updates from the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, where farmers are gathering for the mahapanchayat.
Background
Farmers' 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' HIGHLIGHTS: Hello, and welcome to ABP Live's Live Blog. Please stay tuned for the most recent developments from the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a coalition of farmers' groups, is set to convene a ‘Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat’ at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on Thursday (March 14), with a probable resolution to escalate opposition against central government policies.
Delhi Police have granted permission for the gathering, stipulating a cap of 5,000 attendees and barring tractor trolleys near the venue, according to officials briefed by news agency PTI.
Though the SKM anticipates over 50,000 farmers from Punjab to participate, emphasizing the event's peaceful nature, scores of farmers have already commenced their journey to Delhi, mobilizing via over 800 buses, trucks, and trains.
Anticipating disruptions, authorities caution about potential traffic congestion across the capital due to the assembly at Ramlila Maidan. The Gautam Buddh Nagar Police have advised commuters to expect delays on the Noida-Delhi routes.
Security measures have intensified at Delhi's borders – Singhu, Tikri, and Ghazipur – aiming to deter farmers currently protesting there from entering the city. Despite this, hundreds of farmers remain encamped at the Punjab-Haryana borders for over a month.
According to Manjit Dhaner, head of the Dhaner faction of BKU (Ekta-Dakaunda), which is affiliated with the SKM, over 30,000 farmers from Punjab are expected to travel to the national capital.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the SKM stated that the Delhi Police had permitted them to hold the mahapanchayat at Ramlila Maidan on March 14 and to arrange parking space and other basic amenities such as water, toilets, and ambulances with the support of the Delhi municipal administration.
M Harsha Vardhan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), told the PTI that farmers can hold the'mahapanchayat' with a gathering of less than 5,000 people. He stated that the farmers gave them an undertaking in which they were asked not to come with tractors or weapons, and that they would not hold a march in Delhi.
Rakesh Tikait Calls For Talks With Govt, Says 'Agitation Not Going To End Till...'
"A meeting was held and the government got a message that the farmers of the country are united. The government should resolve the issue through talks, this agitation is not going to end," Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait told PTI.
VIDEO | Kisan Mahapanchayat: "A meeting was held here and the government got a message that the farmers of the country are united. The government should resolve the issue through talks, this agitation is not going to end," says Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait… pic.twitter.com/fStOxUBk0m
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 14, 2024
Here's What Rahul Gandhi Has To Say About Farmers' Issues Amid 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' In Delhi
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the opposition INDIA alliance, if voted to power, will be the "voice of farmers" and frame policies to protect them.
He was addressing a farmers' rally at Chandwad in Maharashtra's Nashik district along with NCP (SP) head Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, as part of the Congress' ongoing 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra'.
"The INDIA alliance government will be the voice of farmers and work to protect their interests," Gandhi said.
He promised loan waiver for farmers, restructuring of crop insurance scheme to benefit cultivators, to protect crop prices in formulation of export import policies and to make efforts to exclude agriculture from GST and work on only one tax.
The Lok Sabha member from Wayanad also reiterated the Congress' promise of a legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) as per the Swaminathan committee report.
The former Congress president claimed 20 to 25 people in the country have wealth equivalent to 70 crore of the country's population.
The Narendra Modi government waived off Rs 16 lakh crore debt of industrialists, he further claimed.
"This amount is equivalent to 24 years of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) under which Rs 35,000 crore is spent every year to give employment to the poor people," Gandhi said. (PTI Input)
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