Chandigarh:

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today ordered the Haryana government to remove within a week barricades set up at the Shambhu border near Ambala.

The Haryana government had set up barricades at the Ambala-New Delhi national highway in February when the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha had announced to move towards Delhi in support of various demands, including a legal guarantee to MSP for crops.

The directions came on a petition filed against the sealing of border between Punjab and Haryana.

Speaking to reporters here, Haryana Additional Advocate General Deepak Sabharwal said the court has directed the Haryana government to remove barricading within seven days.

The court also said if any law and order situation arises, then it can take preventive action as per law.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

The farmers on Sunday protested against BJP candidate Dinesh Babbu in Batala and party leader Arvind Khanna in Barnala in Punjab as the party leaders continued to face their wrath over their unmet demands.

The BJP candidates and leaders have been facing protests from the farmers who have shown them black flags when they were campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls.

Party candidates Hans Raj Hans from Faridkot seat, Taranjit Singh Sandhu from Amritsar and Preneet Kaur from Patiala have already witnessed the anger of the farmers.

In Fatehgarh Churian in Batala, a group of farmers on Sunday raised slogans against Mr Babbu, who is the BJP nominee from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat.

Police even tried to stop the protesters from heading towards the venue where Mr Babbu and the BJP supporters were holding an election related programme.

One of the protesters at Fatehgarh Churian said they will continue to oppose the BJP leaders.

Reacting to the protest, BJP candidate Babbu said it was only his party which can resolve their issues while the other political outfits will “use” them for their vested interests.

“We are with the farmers and I am also a farmer. Their issues can be resolved through dialogue,” said Mr Babbu.

In another incident, BJP leader Arvind Khanna faced the farmers’ protest in Barnala where he had gone to campaign.

A heavy police force was deployed and barricades were raised.

One of the woman protesters slammed the BJP government for not allowing the farmers to go towards Delhi and using “force” against them.

Another protester said they came to hold the protest against Mr Khanna in a peaceful manner but the police personnel did not allow them to move towards the venue.

Mr Khanna, however, alleged that it was not farmer outfits but the workers of the AAP who were “orchestrating” such protests.

“The farmers are either in their fields (for wheat harvesting) or mandis (for selling wheat). These outfits are the people of (chief minister) Bhagwant Mann and these are not farmers,” alleged Mr Khanna, adding that the Modi government stands by the farmers.

Meanwhile, BJP candidate from the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who has also been facing farmers’ ire, said he belongs to a farming family.

He said he emphasised on increasing the income of the farmers. “I am campaigning and I will continue to do so,” he said.

The farmers under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) have already said they will oppose the BJP and will ask the people to “punish” the saffron party in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The farmers owing allegiance to various farm outfits are upset with the BJP-led Centre for not accepting their demands, including a law on minimum support price.

They were also angry over not being allowed to head towards Delhi, forcing them to camp at Shambhu and Khanauri border points of Punjab and Haryana.

The SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) are spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march by the farmers to press the government to accept their demands which include that the Centre should give a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the crops.

The farmers have been staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 when their march was stopped by the security forces.

The polling for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held in the last phase on June 1. 

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Protesting farmers will start marching towards Delhi to press their various demands to the central government today. The announcement has prompted the police to increase security at the Punjab and Haryana borders.

The Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), the two umbrella bodies that are leading the farmers’ protests, on March 3 gave a call to farmers from across the country to reach the national capital today.

They also called for a four-hour countrywide “rail roko” next week in support of their various demands, which include that the Centre should give a legal guarantee of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the crops.

The protesting farmers have been staying put at the Shambhu and the Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana after their “Delhi Chalo” march was stopped by security personnel on February 13.

While the farmers from Punjab and Haryana will continue the agitation at Shambhu and Khanauri border points, the farmers and farm labourers from other states have been asked to reach Delhi today.

Farmers’ ‘Rail Roko’ Protest

To intensify the agitation, farmer leaders have also called upon the farmers and labourers across the country for the ‘rail roko’ protest on March 10.

They have announced a countrywide ‘rail roko’ protest from 12 pm to 4 pm.

Farmers’ body Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which spearheaded the 2020-21 agitation, has also announced a ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ in Delhi on March 14.

The SKM said that over 400 farmers’ outfits will participate in the ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ to press the Centre to accept their demands.

Delhi Police Step Up Vigil

The Delhi Police has directed its personnel to ensure strict vigil at the Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur borders in view of the farmers’ protest.

Additional police and paramilitary forces have also been deployed at railway and metro stations and bus stands.

The police said checking will be intensified at various locations and that there may be traffic congestion in the capital.

New Delhi:

Farmers protesting at two border points between Punjab and Haryana will resume their “Delhi Chalo” march today after they rejected the Centre’s proposal for procuring pulses, maize and cotton at the MSP by government agencies for five years.

Thousands of farmers, who began their march to Delhi on February 13, were stopped at the Haryana border, where they clashed with security personnel. The farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri points between Punjab and Haryana since then.

Here are the LIVE updates on the farmers’ protests:

Get NDTV UpdatesTurn on notifications to receive alerts as this story develops.