Patiala, the venue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first election rally in Punjab, has become a boiling point after farmers announced plans to march toward the venue on Thursday. All the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will head to the polls on June 1, the seventh and last phase of the ongoing general elections.
The Prime Minister will hold a total of three poll rallies in Punjab: Patiala on Thursday, followed by Gurdaspur and Jalandhar on Friday.
PATIALA TURNS TO A FORTRESS, ADMINISTRATION ON TOES
In the wake of the farmers' plans to march to the rally venue, the Patialia administration has made elaborate security arrangements to avoid a 2022 Ferozepur-like incident when the PM's cavalcade was stopped midway due to a blockade by the protesters for nearly 30 minutes.
More than 5,500 police personnel have been deployed in and around the city.
However, Patiala district officials have not commented on the possible threat or challenges the planned protest posed to the Prime Minister's event today.
All four roads leading to the Polo Ground, where the rally will take place, have been sealed. Entry will be permitted only when individuals produce their security passes issued by the police.
Roads connecting Patiala have also been barricaded and every person entering the rally venue will be thoroughly frisked.
The farmers' protest at the Shambhu border, connecting Punjab and Haryana, has completed 100 days after it was launched in February this year.
Thousands of farmer protesters, a majority of them from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, have arrived at the Shambhu border to mark 100 days of their agitation.
They have planned to pay tribute to the 22 farmers who died, including two women, during the 100-day protest.
The protest was launched earlier in February this year to demand legal status for the MSP regime, implementation of Dr Swaminathan's C2 + 50 per cent formula, debt waiver and a security pension of Rs 10,000 per month for every farmer.
The farmers are also agitating against the Haryana government for having used force against them at Shambhu border.
FARMERS ANNOUNCED PROTESTS AT PM's RALLY VENUES
On Tuesday, the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha announced that they would peacefully oppose the Prime Minister's rallies in Punjab.
However, the Patiala administration has denied permission for the farmers to stage their protest.
According to sources, the administration had offered to designate a place near the Gurudwara Dukh Nivaran Sahib for the protest but the farmer leaders dismissed it and insisted on a place near the Polo Ground,
BJP URGES FARMERS NOT TO PROTEST AT PM's RALLY
Meanwhile, BJP leaders have asked the protesting farmers not to stage their demonstrations at the PM's rally venues and instead bring a demand charter which will be discussed with the PM to find a solution to their problems.
"Holding protests and disrupting rallies was not a solution as democracy gives the right to the party nominees to canvas and campaign. They should take the democratic route," Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar said.
Published By:
Karishma Saurabh Kalita
Published On:
May 23, 2024
English (US) ·