With hundreds of farmers gathering at the Rajasthan-Haryana border with plans for intensifying their agitation, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday called upon the protesters to stage a peaceful demonstration on the Delhi-Jaipur highway and raise their demands in a “democratic manner”.
Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) chief and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal, along with his supporters, as well as Kisan Mahapanchayat national president Rampal Jat joined the agitating farmers at the border between the two States. Mr. Beniwal earlier addressed a meeting of farmers at Kotputli, situated 110 km from Jaipur on the highway.
Mr. Gehlot said the Centre should accept the farmers’ demand of repealing the agriculture sector laws “without delay”. “I am pleased [to note] that the farmers’ movement has been very peaceful so far. Violence has no place in democracy,” he tweeted.
The Chief Minister asked the farmers to put their demands democratically before the Centre during their agitation on the Jaipur-Delhi highway and maintain peace. The farmers’ groups have announced that a ‘Dilli Chalo’ march with a tractor rally would start from Rajasthan’s Shahjahanpur after blocking the highway on Sunday.
The RLP, which is a constituent of National Democratic Alliance from Rajasthan, has threatened to snap its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party if the new farm laws are not withdrawn. Mr. Beniwal said his party’s strength lay with the farmers, who were agitating in the extreme cold amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
