Don’t protest at PM’s rally, submit memorandum, BJP urges farmers
BJP state president Sunil Jakhar says the farmer unions should first build a consensus and sit down together to work on the real issues and demands. Presently, they are speaking in many voices, he adds.
With farmer unions of Punjab deciding to protest during the upcoming election rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Punjab, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has urged leaders of the farmers’ unions to submit a memorandum of their demands to the party so that the same could be forwarded to the PM.
PM Modi will address a rally in Patiala on May 23 and Gurdaspur and Jalandhar on May 24. Farmer unions have been protesting against the BJP, seeking a legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP) as recommended by the Swaminathan committee. Farmers are agitated also over the recent use of “force” by the Haryana Police during farmers’ ‘Delhi chalo’ march in which a young farmer died due to bullet injury.
BJP’s national executive member Manoranjan Kalia said farmers must come up with a detailed demand charter instead of disrupting PM’s rallies. “We are assuring farmers that their demands will be taken up with the PM positively so that there is some sort of solution to their issues. Holding protests or disturbing rallies is not at all a solution,” Kalia said, adding that the democracy gives right to candidates to carry out electioneering.
BJP state president Sunil Jakhar said, “The farmer unions should first build a consensus and sit down together to work on the real issues and demands. Presently, they are speaking in many voices.”
The BJP candidates from all 13 parliamentary segments have been facing protests by farmers on a daily basis as they have been disallowed to hold canvassing, especially in rural areas.
PM’s security wing meets police officials
Senior security officials from the Prime Minister’s office (PMO) are holding meetings with police officials of Patiala, Gurdaspur and Jalandhar so as to ensure elaborative security arrangements.
Pertinently, in a security breach in January 2022, PM Modi’s convoy was stranded on a flyover for nearly 30 minutes in Ferozepur due to a blockade by farmers.
After meeting officials of the special protection group (SPG), the Jalandhar administration declared the district as no flying zone for Thursday.
“The decision has been taken after a meeting with the SPG so as to adopt every possible security measure during the PM’s visit,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner, Major Amit Mahajan (retd).