Published 08:35 IST, January 29th 2021
'BJP govt crushing farmers' movement using deceit', alleges Akhilesh Yadav
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday made a scathing attack at the BJP by accusing them of crushing the movement of the farmers
- India News
- 3 min read
A few days after the anarchy and the vandalism that followed at the Red Fort on Republic Day, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday made a scathing attack at the central government by accusing them of crushing the movement of the farmers with force and deceit.
"Today, the way the BJP government is crushing the farmers' movement by using deceit, it is every true Indian's soul cry along with the farmers. Farmers will vote against the government's brutality in the next election by a vote. Today the farmers whom the BJP is picking up from the road will bring the BJP on the road tomorrow."
Ón January 25, Yadav had questioned the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government's move to reportedly deny diesel for tractors on January 26 and alleged that there was a conspiracy in place against the farmers. As per reports, the UP government had ordered petrol pumps to deny diesel for tractors on Republic Day - the same day when the protesting farmers were scheduled to participate in a parade in the national capital. Reacting to the reported move of the UP government, Akhilesh had asked what the Yogi Adityanath-led government would do if the farmers responded to the 'diesel ban' by blockading the BJP? However, later the Ghazipur police had issued a statement clarifying that no such order has been issued by the police department.
Farmers Tractor Rally turns violent
As India celebrated its 72nd Republic Day, the farmers' tractor rally which was planned on nine pre-decided routes turned violent at points. Some farmers forcibly entered Central Delhi, clashing with Delhi police and planted flags at the Red Fort. The entire area saw chaotic scenes for hours as the protesters threw stones at police and damaged vehicles. Police personnel tried to control the mob by baton-charging them and lobbing tear gas shells.
After 11 rounds of Centre-farmer talks, both had failed to reach a mutual decision with the associations refusing to agree to the Centre's proposal for suspending the implementation of the aforesaid legislation for one and a half years. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had categorically said that the Union government is ready for another meeting only if the farmers want to discuss this proposal. Thereafter, the protesting farmers had come to an agreement with the Delhi police to hold their Republic Day tractor rally peacefully.
The Delhi Police had permitted farmers to take out the tractor rally on three routes emanating from the Singhu border, the Tikri border, and the Ghazipur border covering 62 km, 60 km, and 46 km respectively. Darshan Pal, Rajinder Singh, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Buta Singh Burjgil, and Joginder Singh Ugraha were asked to coordinate with the police during the rally. Additionally, the Police mandated that a maximum of 5000 persons with 5000 tractors can participate in the Republic Day rally from noon to 5 pm. However, the rally took a violent turn after groups of farmers broke police barricades at the Delhi border to enter the national capital before the allocated time.
Updated 08:35 IST, January 29th 2021