Thousands of farmers, many arriving on tractors from across Uttar Pradesh, converged at the protest site near the All Saint’s Cathedral in Civil Lines on Tuesday for the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Tikait faction’s “’Dera Dalo, Ghera Dalo Kisan Samman Mahapanchayat”, mounting pressure on the government over a wide range of agrarian and civic issues despite the absence of BKU leader Rakesh Tikait.
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Tikait could not attend the mahapanchayat as he was engaged in an ongoing protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. The gathering was led by BKU’s state youth president Anuj Singh, who addressed the farmers and spearheaded the programme.
The farmers raised concerns over the availability of fertilisers, demand for 16-18 hours of electricity supply in rural areas, technical verification of smart meters, problems related to tubewell feeders, enhancement of transformer capacity, fair compensation for land acquisition, declaration of agricultural land as green belt, the menace of stray cattle, construction of gaushalas, and withdrawal of house tax, sewer tax and water tax imposed on villages brought under municipal limits.
Addressing the gathering, Anuj Singh alleged that the government believed students and farmers could be prevented from raising their demands through force. “This is a democratic country. Lathi-charge on students is highly condemnable,” he said.
Following the mahapanchayat, a BKU delegation held talks with the additional district magistrate (administration), deputy commissioner of police and other officials. The administration assured the delegation that necessary action on the farmers’ demands would be initiated within a week.
Singh warned that if the issues were not resolved within the stipulated time, the organisation would launch a larger agitation.
Traffic hit for hours
The massive turnout led to prolonged traffic congestion on Tashkent Marg and Mahatma Gandhi Marg. Parents and students of St Joseph’s College, located opposite the Municipal Corporation office, remained stranded after school hours due to the gridlock. Police personnel attempted to regulate traffic, but movement remained disrupted for several hours because of the large gathering of farmers.
