Farmers have been demanding a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report, withdrawal of police cases against fellow agitators, justice for the victims of Lakhimpur Kheri violence, and a raise in sugar cane price.In Ghaziabad, farmers staged a sit-in at the call of BKU leader Rakesh Tikait under the leadership of district president Bijendra Singh.Addressing the gathering, Bijendra Singh said that the farmers were forced to demonstrate by the government which is not paying heed to their demand of MSP.Farmers there handed over a 15-point memorandum to the administration, addressed to President Droupadi Murmu.The memorandum carried 15 demands of farmers, including a check on inflation, relaxation in railway fare for senior citizens, and free education.Kavinagar ACP Abhishek Srivastav said that to prevent any untoward incident, sufficient force was deployed inside and outside the collectorate.BKU National Spokesperson Rakesh Tikait in Meerut said that if the government does not allow farmers to go to Delhi, the farmers also will not let them enter their villages during elections.Farmers in Meerut on Wednesday took out a tractor march to reach the collectorate.Authorities had set up barriers at several places, but the agitators removed them and reached the collector’s office, said BKU’s district head Anurag Chaudhary.”Putting nails on the road is not justified. If they put nails on our way, we will also do the same in our villages. We also have to barricade our villages.If they are not allowing us to reach Delhi, we will not let them enter our villages,” Tikait told reporters when asked about obstacles, such as iron nails, being laid on roads to prevent farmers from reaching Delhi.Tikait attacked the Centre saying the BJP-led government is only for industrialists.”If it were a farmers’ government, a law guaranteeing MSP would have come into force.”He said that on Thursday a meeting of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) would be held to deliberate on the future course of the farmers’ agitation.
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