Hundreds of
farmers
from Punjab and west UP are planning to reach Delhi on Thursday, this time in
buses
and trains, to renew their call for a law guaranteeing
minimum support price
(MSP).
Farmers will convene at
Ramlila Maidan
in Delhi and hold a
mahapanchayat
between 10am and 4pm. Union leaders said on Wednesday that the protesters will try to restrict their movement to one lane on roads and expressways for minimum disruption to
traffic
.
Around 300 farmers under the banners of Krantikari Kisan Union, Kirti Kisan Union, Kul Hind Kisan Sabha and Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) factions boarded the Dadar Express from Patiala to reach Delhi by Thursday. Others started from Dhuri in Sangrur district of Punjab.
Farmer leader Avtar Singh Kaurjiwala said over 30,000 were on their way.
Protesters from Haryana's Bangar were planning to reach the capital on foot. Groups had reached Jind railway station by Wednesday evening after mobilising support through a march in the district.
From West UP, the BKU (Tikait) said farmers from Ghaziabad, Noida, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Saharanpur, Rampur, Amroha, Bijnor and Baghpat will attend the gathering.
BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, who is in the capital, said the umbrella organisation Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has taken permission from Delhi Police to hold the mahapanchayat at Ramlila Ground.
"On our part, we have told farmers to maintain traffic discipline and avoid moving in large cavalcades. They have been asked not to drive to Delhi in tractors, but take buses and other modes of transportation," he said.
Tikait, among the leaders who spearheaded the year-long agitation of farmers on Delhi's borders in 2020-21, said Thursday's mahapanchayat was organised as a single-day event as govt has not fulfilled their demands.
"SKM will chart the course of action in the backdrop of Lok Sabha elections," he said.
A law to guarantee MSP on crops was one of the key conditions on which farmer unions had called off their agitation in 2021 after Centre revoked the three controversial agriculture reform laws.
On preparations ahead of the protest, Ghaziabad ACP (traffic) Priyashri Pal said Delhi Police have told them they will allow entry of vehicles into the capital after checking. But border checks are likely to be stepped up and getting across could take longer, both in Noida and Ghaziabad, where Delhi Police have kept a heavy contingent on standby in anticipation of protests.
"Delhi Police has closed NH-9 at UP Gate along the Delhi-Meerut Expressway with concrete dividers and iron nails," the ACP said.
Pal said this restriction has been in place for a few days and commuters going to Delhi are taking detours via Khora Colony and Mayur Vihar-3.
"People are also going towards Anand Vihar via Kaushambi and Vaishali. Traffic cops will be deployed at every point, so that commuters will not face any jams," she added.
Noida police have not issued an advisory, but barriers were spotted at the DCP's office in Sector 14-A along the Chilla border on Wednesday.
A traffic police officer in Noida said the force is making an "elaborate arrangement" and will place barricades within the city to stop protesters from marching to Delhi.
BKU (Tikait) president for West UP division Pawan Khatana said protesters will take the
Yamuna Expressway
and Noida-Greater Noida Expressway to reach Ramlila Maidan.
"We will try to maintain lane discipline to ensure motorists are not affected," he said.
Farmer unions called to renew their protest this February, prompting security forces to take drastic measures with multi-layered security -- including barriers, trenches, concertina wires, spike barriers, shipping containers and dumper trucks - to halt any demonstration outside Delhi.
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