Revived Resistance: Farmers Rally Strong After ‘Bharat Bandh’ Impact

In New Delhi, a day after the Bharat Bandh protest, farmers, primarily from Punjab and Haryana, resumed their protest on the fifth day of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march. The Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) announced plans to hold dharnas (sit-in protests) outside the residences of three senior BJP leaders in Punjab on Saturday. The key demands include a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP).

The union, led by Gurnam Singh Charuni, will hold protests outside the homes of former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Punjab BJP unit chief Sunil Jakhar, and senior leader Kewal Singh Dhillon. Additionally, protests at toll plazas in the state will also be organized, in solidarity with the farmers’ “Delhi Chalo” call. The Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni), based in Haryana, plans a tractor rally in support of the protesting farmers.

On Sunday, Union ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal, and Nityanand Rai, along with farmer leaders, are scheduled to meet for the fourth round of talks. Previous talks on February 8, 12, and 15 did not lead to a resolution.

The farmers, who began their march to Delhi on Tuesday, were stopped at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana. They have been camping at these border points. Apart from a legal guarantee for MSP, the farmers are demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pension for farmers and farm laborers, farm debt waiver, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases, justice for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act – 2013, and compensation for families of farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.