Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday filed her nomination papers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Rajasthan. Reacting to Gandhi’s Rajya Sabha nomination, Union Minister Giriraj Singh took a jibe at Gandhi and said she must be tired of contesting Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP leader also responded to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s comment over PM Modi saying Kharge may think whatsoever but in people’s eye, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most popular leader. Singh further attacked saying Kharge has been frustrated now, he wanted to launch Rahul Gandhi but since the launching pad had some issues he couldn’t be launched.

Earlier today, Gandhi landed at the Jaipur airport accompanied by her son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Gandhi.

Apart from Gandhi, Dr Akhilesh Prasad Singh has been nominated for Bihar, Abhishek Manu Singhvi for Himachal Pradesh and Chandrakant Handore for Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, speaking to the reports, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot welcomed Gandhi’s decision to file nomination papers for the Upper House from Rajasthan and said Congress is proud of it.

The Congress leader also said Gandhi could have gone to any state and become Rajya Sabha but if she has chosen Rajasthan, it will be discussed across the country and the NDA government would also be alert now.

With this, it will be Gandhi’s first term in the Rajya Sabha after serving five terms as a Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli.

Gandhi, first elected in 1999 as a Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli, will not contest the next general elections.

In April, a total of 56 members of Rajya Sabha from 15 states, will be retiring. As per the official notice, the election to the seats will be held on February 27 and the last date for filing nominations is February 15.

The Congress party is in a comfortable position to secure one of the three Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan, which will be up for election. The seat will become vacant once the current holder, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, completes his six-year tenure in April.

Protesting farmers were undeterred by clashes with police at the Punjab-Haryana border and began to march towards Delhi on Wednesday. They declared a ceasefire after a hectic day which was marked by tear gas, water cannons, and clashes with police. Haryana Police had to resort to firing tear gas shells at the protesters to stop them from approaching the barricades.

About 100 tractor trolleys lined up at Shambhu on the Punjab-Haryana border as farmers continued their Delhi Chalo march, but a large number of security forces were stationed with concrete barricading and dug up roads to stop the protesting farmers.

In the Delhi-NCR region expressways turned into crawl-ways due to the increased traffic restrictions and heavy police barricading slowed down the movement of vehicles. As the protesting farmers move close to the national capital on Wednesday, the police will increase the security arrangements on the border. This in turn is going to make it all the more difficult for the daily commuters.

Similar to the earlier farmer protest of 2020-21, large number of farmers from Punjab were stopped by a heavy police presence as they tried to break through the barricades on their way to Delhi. The Haryana police is determined to stop the protesting farmers from entering the state and has increased security measures with the use of drones which are equipped with tear gas canisters, concrete barriers and water cannons.

The clashes between the farmers and the police personal led to injuries. Reports said that 24 policemen were hurt and 60 protesting farmers were hurt during the clashes. Authorities said drones carrying tear gas canisters, along with water cannons, cement barriers, sand bags and tyre defaltors were used in order to stop the protesting farmers. The security personal appealed to the farmers but the situation got out of hand when they started pelting stones and even tried to break down the barricades.

Bharat Ratna MS Swaminathan’s daughter and Developmental Economist Madhura Swaminathan said farmers are Annadatas and cannot be treated as criminals as she referred to the government’s response to the farmer’s protest in Haryana.

While addressing an event organised by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in Delhi’s Pusa, she said there have been barricades and jails have also been prepared to stop the farmers protesting to press their demands against the Centre in Haryana, adding that, Madhura said farmers are not criminals, they are Annadatas and needs to be addressed.

She further asserted that the Centre has to find solutions as for any future strategy the government plans, it has to take the farmers with them.

Speaking at an event organised to celebrate the conferment of Bharat Ratna to her father and agricultural scientist Swaminathan posthumously, she said that the farmers of Punjab have been marching to Delhi. Citing different reports, she added, that jails are being prepared for them in Haryana, there are barricades, and there are all kinds of things being done to prevent farmers.

Among others, the adoption of the Swaminathan Committee report has been one of the demands made by the farmers protesting in Delhi borders.

The farmers in Haryana and Punjab have various demands, including a law to guarantee Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops, pension for farmers, crop insurance and the quashing of FIRs registered against farmers during the 2020 protest. They also planned a tractor march on Tuesday.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on February 13, pledged to provide a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) on crops as per the Swaminathan Commission report if the Congress party is voted to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, as protesting farmers made their way to the national capital.

He added saying that said that the decision to give MSP a legal guarantee will have a profound impact on the lives of 15 crore farmer households.