The majority of farmers have left Delhi borders and returned home on the first day of their withdrawal after an year-long agitation against Centre's three farm laws.
Vice president of the Jai Kisan Andolan farmers' group, Deepak Lamba said, "80 per cent of farmers have left from the Singhu border, around 50 per cent went home from Ghazipur border while from Tikri border around 60 to 70 per cent farmers have returned to their home."
Gradually, the roads will open at the border areas after the agitation sites are completely clear on December 15.
Farmers started vacating the border on Saturday morning days after the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) announced the suspension of their year-long agitation against the new farm laws and other issues.
The farmers headed back to their states in large convoys of tractors and trucks, in the same way they arrived at the protest sites -- Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri -- on the outskirts of the national capital a year ago.
Farmers at the Singhu border sang bhajans before vacating the site while those at the Tikri border were seen dancing to celebrate the success of their protest against the three farm laws and other related issues.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh had laid siege to the Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders in November 2020 to demand the repeal of the three farm laws, which were finally withdrawn in the Winter Session of Parliament earlier this month.
Farmers have taken down their settlements and have vacated the borders around Delhi, which were their protesting sites for the last one year.
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday flagged off the first lot of farmers returning home from the Ghazipur border. This first group was headed for Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh.
Tikait informed that he would leave the protesting site at the Ghazipur border on December 15.
The SKM, earlier on Thursday announced the suspension of their year-long agitation after they received a letter from the central government, with promises of forming a committee on minimum support price (MSP) and withdrawing cases against them immediately.
The farmers will hold a review meeting on January 15.
'If the government does not fulfil its promises, we could resume our agitation,' the SKM had said in its statement.
On November 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre will repeal the three farm laws by bringing necessary bills in the Winter Session of Parliament.
Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill on the first day of the Winter Session on November 29.
President Ram Nath Kovind also gave his assent to the repeal bill, completing the process of repealing the three farm laws.
The farmers were sitting on dharnas on the Delhi borders since November 2020 against the laws.
