Delhi police gives nod to farmers’ Republic Day tractor parade

New Delhi: The Delhi Police Saturday granted farmers permission to carry out their tractor parade in the national capital on the occasion of Republic Day on January 26. Farmers will have to confirm to the police the route of their parade tomorrow. Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav said the farmers have been allowed to enter Delhi. “Farmers will take out ‘Kisan Gantantra Parade’ on January 26. Barricades will be opened and we will enter Delhi.

We (farmers and Delhi Police) have reached an agreement on the route, final details are to be worked out tonight,” he was quoted saying by ANI. Farmers against the new farm bills at Singhu border, New Delhi. Yadav also said the parade would have no effect on the official Republic Day event or its security arrangements. Other farm leaders also appealed to those participating in the parade to maintain discipline. “I want to appeal to the farmers participating in the parade to maintain discipline and follow the instruction issued by the committee,” Gurnam Singh Chaduni of Bharatiya Kisan Union said. Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at various border points of Delhi for over a month now against the recently-enacted agricultural laws. Apart from those already present, hundreds of farmers, with the Tricolour and balloons on their tractors, are heading to Delhi to join the protest against the three controversial legislations.

“Over 30,000 tractors and trolleys today moved from Khanauri (in Sangrur, Punjab) and Dabwali (in Sirsa district, Haryana) to join the tractor parade in Delhi,” said Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan on Saturday. They are expected to reach the Tikri border tonight. Farmers are expecting representation of at least 20 states in their parade. They had earlier said the national flag would be put atop vehicles and no flags of any political party would be allowed. They also plan to display tableaux of different states during their R-Day tractor parade. “If all goes well, we will display tableaux of all states during the tractor parade,” Chaudhary Joginder Ghasi Ram Nain, a Bhartiya Kisan Union leader from Haryana had told The Indian Express. Earlier, the Delhi Police had tried convincing farmers to hold their protest at the border and not march inwards, but couldn’t reach an agreement.