Kisan Kranti Padyatra: Agitating farmers end protest, say not happy with govt's approach; Top 10 developments

fter the midnight march in the nation capital which started from Haridwar in Uttar Pradesh on September 23 ended at wee hours of Wednesday morning at Kisan Ghant.

Last night Police opened the barricades at the Delhi-UP border to allow the agitating farmers to visit Kisan Ghat and end their rally. (Image: ANI)

Kisan Kranti Padyatra: After the midnight march in the nation capital which started from Haridwar in Uttar Pradesh on September 23 ended at wee hours of Wednesday morning at Kisan Ghant. The protest, participated by over 50,000 farmers from various parts of UP, turned violent after the Delhi Police tried to block their entry in Delhi to avoid traffic conjunction and havoc. However, last night Police opened the barricades at the Delhi-UP border to allow the agitating farmers to visit Kisan Ghat and end their rally. Speaking to news agency ANI, Naresh Tikait, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) chief said, “The farmers remained unfazed despite all the hardships. We have been marching for 12 days now, farmers are tired as well. We will continue to demand our rights to the government but for now we are ending the march.” The yatra began on September 23 from Haridwar with score of farmers from Gonda, Basti and Gorakhpur participating in the protest march. Here are top 10 highlights from the Kisan Kranti Padyatra which took the entire country with storm on October 2: 1. Following a day-long agitation which took place at the Delhi-Ghazipur border, Delhi Police on Tuesday night opened the barricades to allow the farmers to enter the national capital and visit Kisan Ghant to end their days-long protest. 2. As per reports, the farmers have started returning since early morning after visiting Kisan Ghat. Traffic restrictions and security imposed in various areas of Delhi has now been lifted as the protest was called off. However, the state government has decided to keep schools and colleges closed in Ghaziabad. 3. The march of around 50,000 agitating farmers reached the national capital on October 2. The rally was stopped by the Delhi Police. Later when the farmers turned violent, Police used water cannons, tear gas and even opened lathicharge to control the situation. 4. The farmers have been protesting as part of their “Kisan Kranti Padyatra” to demand loan waiver, subsidised electricity and fuel, pension for farmers above 60 and implementation of recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. 5. The Commission observed that farmers needed to have an assured access to and control over rightful basic resources. These basic resources include land, water, bioresources, credit and insurance, technology and knowledge management, and markets. 6. Even Home Minister Rajnath Singh met the farmers on Tuesday in the national capital. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, MoS, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, informed that farmer leaders met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and discussed their demands have reached an agreement on a majority of the issues. 7. However, the farmers still say that they haven't reached an agreement on the full implementation of the Swaminathan report regarding the minimum selling price (MSP) and their demand of one-time complete loan waiver. 8. Reports suggest that out of 11 demands of these protesting farmers, the government agreed on seven. However, the government has assured the farmers that they will get back on the remaining points as they were financial issues. 9. Several Opposition parties including Congress attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government over the police action that injured several farmers. They also criticised the government stating it should be held responsible for unfulfilled promises and increasing farmer distress in the country. 10. These parties accused the central government of being 'anti-farmer' and demanded allowing the protesters to enter Delhi to peacefully present their grievances. Even the government mulled over the possibilities and ways to convince the farmers to end their protest.