Delhi: Farmers’ protest gaining momentum; Kejriwal, Sharad Pawar to address rally

After braving the night’s cold at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, nearly 10,000 farmers, belonging to over 200 farmers’ organisations, will march towards Parliament street for a rally on Friday morning.

Notably, the farmers are holding a two-day protest rally, the Kisan Mukti March, to press for their demands including implementation of the MS Swaminathan Committee report, farm loan waiver and better Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their agricultural produce.

Farmers from states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and others joined the mega rally.

Many leaders including Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Loktantrik Janata Dal’s Sharad Yadav will also address the gathering at the street next to iconic Jantar Mantar.

From the past couple of months, the country has witnessed a number of protests by farmers. On October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, farmers from the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab were not allowed to launch a protest in Delhi, which later led to a violent confrontation with the state police at the Delhi border.

Earlier, on November 22, nearly 30,000 farmers and tribals under the aegis of Lok Sangharsh Morcha demanding farm loan waiver, land ownership etc. Previously, Around 25,000 farmers under the banner of All India Kisan Sabha carried out a protest march in the national capital demanding a complete farm loan waiver.

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