A leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) started an indefinite fast at the Chilla border between Noida and Delhi on Monday amid ongoing farmers’ protests against the Centre’s three agriculture laws. Yogesh Pratap Singh, the Uttar Pradesh unit chief of the BKU-Bhanu, was joined by scores of supporters, including the union’s national president and his father Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh.
“The protest is underway and will continue till our demands are not fulfilled by the Centre,” BKU-Bhanu’s senior IT cell member Satish Tomar told PTI. He also trashed murmurs of ending the protest after some members left the faction over disagreement on opening the Chilla border two days ago. “Some people from other farmers’ union had joined our group in December and now they are saying they have left Bhanu group and are spreading lies about our protest,” Tomar claimed.
Meanwhile, members of another farmers’ faction, the BKU (Lok Shakti), stayed put at the Dalit Prerna Sthal, near the Chilla border, in protest against the agri laws. The protesters have gathered at the Noida border and want to proceed to Delhi to join the bigger stir called by farmers from Punjab and Haryana.
Thousands of farmers are currently camping at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in protest against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. They have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations. However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture. Government officials said efforts are being made to hold the next round of talks between representatives of the Centre and the farmers so that the logjam could end.
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