No BJP leader show up for an open debate with farmers at Kisan Bhawan
Rail Roko farmer's protest continues at Shambu, disrupts 109 trains
Ferozepur, April 23, 2024: None of the BJP leaders showed up for the open discussion with the farmers at the Kissan Bhawan – a venue fixed for open debate that remained vacant. The persistent Rail Roko protest at Shambu railway station near Rajpura by farmers' outfits has upset the railway operation, causing huge financial losses to the railways besides inconvenience to the public, who had pre-planned their programmes to visit places to meet friends, and relatives, to attend the function and to join the various official events. The protest entered the 7th consecutive day. The railway has suffered a Rs.25 lac loss on account of a refund to 4,765 affected passengers.
Kisan Andolan 2.0 led by Kisan Majdoor Morcha and SKM (Non-Political) has completed 70 days today. Today was the 7th day of the Rail Roko on the Shambhu track for the release of arrested farmers in Haryana.
An open debate was also arranged at Kisan Bhawan today but none of the BJP leaders come forward to face the questions from the farmers.
The farmer leader Surjit Singh Phul and others said, 100 days of Kisan Andolan 2.0 are being completed on May 22. And on this day large gatherings will be held on both borders. Apart from this, it was announced that Labor Day will be celebrated on both the borders on May 1, 2024
The farmers are demanding the release of three fellow protesters – Navdeep Singh, Anish Khatkar and Gurkirat Singh, who were arrested in February and March by the Haryana police. They are also demanding that the state government conduct a special gurdwara to assess the crops suffered by farmers in hailstorms that lashed many parts of the state recently and compensation on this account. The farmers have also put forth the long pending demand to fix a minimum support price (MSP) for their crops and concessions, including the waiving of farm loans.
The protest has forced the railway authorities to reschedule 109 trains - Short-terminated 2 trains from Bermer and Amritsar, originated 2 trains from Jammu Tawi and Darbhanga, cancelled 45 trains, diverted 60 trains – on different roués passing through Ambala-Rajpura.