Haryana Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangwa’s car came under attack in Sirsa district on Sunday as farmers held protests at various places in the state targeting events of BJP leaders. Police said the rear windscreen of the SUV broke as stones were pelted, but no one was hurt.
The day saw protesters gather at various places across the state, raising slogans against the government and demanding a rollback of the contentious farm laws.
Earlier in the day, at one such protest in Fatehabad, protesters removed metal barricades put up by the police as they marched towards a venue where Haryana Cooperation Minister Banwari Lal and Sirsa MP Sunita Duggal were attending a party function.
Duggal later travelled to Sirsa to attend another party event, where Gangwa, a BJP MLA from the Nalwa constituency in Hisar district, was also present.
Farmers carrying black flags had assembled outside the Chaudhary Devi Lal university there during the day and raised slogans against the government.
While the leaders were coming out after the function ended, protesters targeted Gangwa’s car, the police said.
Despite heavy police presence, some managed to surround the vehicle and banged against it with their hands.
“The deputy speaker was seated on the front seat at the time of the incident. The vehicle’s rear windscreen was broken. It is not immediately clear whether something was hurled at it or somebody broke it with hand or an object. Some stones were also pelted at the vehicle as we were trying to escort it out of the area.
“No one in the vehicle received injury. Later, the deputy speaker was safely escorted out of the area," Deputy Superintendent of Police, Sirsa, Sanjay Kumar told PTI over phone.
He said Sunita Duggal was in another car when the incident occurred.
Farmer leaders later said many protesters were detained by the police. They claimed that they were holding a peaceful protest when police personnel forcibly removed them from the site, to which they objected.
Another protest was held in Jhajjar, where farmers assembled when they learnt that state BJP chief O P Dhankar was to attend a party event there later in the day.
With black flags in their hands, the protesters said they would not allow the BJP or its ally JJP to hold functions unless the farm laws are repealed.
In Ambala, a large number of protesters gathered on the Ambala-Saha road when they learnt that the district unit of the BJP was holding a function.
Protesting farmers have been opposing public functions of the BJP and the JJP in the state.
On Saturday, farmers clashed with police when they tried to force their way through barricades towards a venue at Jagadhari in Yamunanagar district where Haryana minister Mool Chand Sharma was to address a meeting.
Protests were also held in Hisar against Haryana BJP chief Dhankar and in Jind against state minister Kamlesh Dhanda.
Speaking to reporters in Punjab’s Gurdaspur on Sunday, Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chaduni) chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni said it has been more than seven months since farmers started their protest at Delhi’s borders, but the government was not listening to them.
Chaduni led a march of farmers on various vehicles from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur to the Singhu border protest site.
“This agitation has been going on for several months now, but the Centre is not listening to the farmers. But the BJP-led government is mistaken if it thinks this agitation will die down. In fact, it is gaining more and more strength, and farmers will rest only when these laws are scrapped," he said.
Farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi’s borders for over seven months in protest against three agri laws.
Farmers Hold Protest Against BJP in Patiala
A group of farmers protesting against the Centre’s farm laws on Sunday chased away a local BJP leader in Punjab’s Patiala district where a party meeting was underway. The incident took place as local BJP leaders and workers assembled for a meeting in Rajpura.
Protesting farmers gathered near the venue and started raising slogans against the BJP, prompting the police to escort the party’s leaders and workers out of the building. When local leader Shanti Sapra was being escorted out, protesters carrying black flags chased him down the street.
Sapra later claimed that his clothes were torn away, even as police tried to protect him. A few others, including local leader Bhupesh Aggarwal, took refuge in a house. Aggarwal alleged he was beaten up by the protesters and claimed that his life was under threat.
The police, however, said they had deployed adequate personnel and the BJP leaders were taken out safely. BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh condemned the alleged attack on the party members and dubbed the incident a daylight murder of democracy under the Congress-led regime in Punjab.
In a statement, he alleged that the party’s political rivals, under the garb of the farmers’ protest, had been trying to throttle the voice of the BJP in the state. Farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi’s borders for over seven months in protest against the three contentious agri laws.
The three laws The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 were passed by Parliament in September last year.
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