Bir Singh Yadav, from Bahlolpur village in Noida, enacted the "symbolic suicide" at the Dalit Prerna Sthal where he has been camping along with scores of protestors belonging to the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lok Shakti).
Multiple pleas have been filed in the top court seeking a direction to authorities to immediately remove the farmers, saying commuters are facing hardships due to the road blockades and the gatherings might lead to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, and Railways and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday held a meeting at the Vigyan Bhawan with a delegation of farmers, including the leaders of several farm organisations holding protests in the national capital against the recent farm laws.
'We felt it is our responsibility to stand by the farmers' and extend support of the whole of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray saahab'
The farmers entered the national capital riding their tractors and trolleys and proceeded towards Kisan Ghat where heavy police deployment has been made.
Tikait has been at loggerheads with various governments on a range of farmers' issues, including loan waivers, minimum support price, power tariff and land acquisition in states such as UP, Haryana Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh.
On National Investigation Agency's notices to some people supporting the farmers' protest, he said, "Those who want to be part of the agitation must be ready for court cases, imprisonment and sealing of property."
The nodal officer for EVMs in Varanasi, a returning officer (RO) in Sonbhadra district and an additional election officer in Bareilly district have been pulled out from election duties, a day ahead of the counting of votes in UP.
Land attachment and auction is being undertaken by banks that are controlled by the RBI, Gehlot said, urging the Centre to waive farmers' loans.
Singh wrote in the suicide note that the government must repeal these farm laws as these are against the interests of farmers, according to a leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.
However, the farmers are still protesting, demanding a law on MSP. Besides MSP, the farmers are also demanding a resolution for the livelihood of the families of the 700 farmers who died while protesting against the three farm laws.
The government and unions representing farmers, who have been camping at Delhi's border for about three months in protest against the three laws that they see will end state procurement of crops at MSP, have held 11 rounds of talks, the last being on January 22.
The body of farmer leader and Bharatiya Kisan Union chief Mahendra Singh Tikait, who died after prolonged battle with bone cancer, was on Monday cremated at his birth place Sisauli in Muzaffarnagar.
'The government knows our demands and knows well about our peaceful demonstration. It can address our concern and we will be gone'
"We do not aim change in power (at the Centre). The government should do its work. We want it to repeal the farm laws and ensure law on MSP," he said.
In a joint statement, leaders of eight opposition parties extended their support to the farmers who are protesting the three farm laws.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala accused Modi of getting pictures clicked in corporate offices while farmers are protesting on Delhi roads.
'They wil show the whole world see how this government is treating its farmers.'
Tikait (76), who was president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, had been suffering from bone cancer since last year and breathed his last at the residence of his son and BKU general secretary Rakesh Tikait in Muzaffarnagar, family sources said
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) supporters stayed put on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Friday as the crowd swelled there, notwithstanding the Ghaziabad administration's ultimatum to vacate the UP Gate protest site where security force in large numbers was re-deployed.
Farmers from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states on Tuesday offered 'antim ardas' -- the final prayers in the Sikh tradition -- for the protesters killed in the recent violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, with their leaders vowing to intensify the agitation against the Centre's new agri laws.
'If our demands aren't met, then, we will hold tractor march on January 6 and also on January 26'
Tikait says PM Modi was supporter of MSP law when he was CM
The seventh round of talks between protesting unions and three central ministers ended inconclusively on Monday as the farmer leaders insisted on the repeal of the three contentious farm laws right from the beginning, even as the government listed various benefits from the Acts.
'The cabinet approval is a logical step. It doesn't hold any more significance than what we have already stated on November 19.'
The letter by Singh, who is camping at the Dalit Prerna Sthal in Noida along with his faction members since December 2, came as protestors marked the birth anniversary of former prime minister and farmers' leader Chaudhary Charan Singh.
The remarks came as farmer leaders Darshan Pal, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Gurnam Singh Chaduni and Rakesh Tikait of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha held an interaction with the press at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.
Three union ministers -- Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce and Industries Som Prakash -- will hold discussions again with 40 farmer unions' leaders, including the Bharatiya Kisan Union which is spearheading the protests.
Addressing a press conference at a protest site on the Singhu border, they said the "super bandh" made the government open its 'eyes and ears'.
BKU (Bhanu) president Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh told reporters he was deeply pained by whatever happened during the tractor parade in Delhi on Republic Day.
On International Women's Day, hundreds of women took to streets while raising slogans of "kisan ekta" (farmer unity) and some broke into nonchalant rhythmic steps of 'bhangra'.
BKU leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, accused of making casteist remarks against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, was granted bail after he surrendered in the district court in Bijnore. Tikait, whose arrest attempt by police had sparked violence in Sisauli, the headquarters of the BKU on Monday, later regretted his comments and said it was a slip of tongue.
But the Congress said its leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will attend the event.
Tension prevailed in Sisoli village in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh after supporters of Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Mahender Singh Tikait clashed with police trying to arrest him for allegedly making derogatory remarks against state Chief Minister Mayawati, leaving a dozen policemen injured. Uttar Pradesh government has sounded an alert in all the districts of Western Uttar Pradesh and paramilitary forces rushed to the area to avoid any untoward incident.
The Bharatiya Janata Party faces an uphill task of repeating its performance of the last assembly election of winning 53 out of 58 constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh where polling will be held in the first phase on February 10.
At many places, where the voters had entered booths before 6 pm and were standing in queues, they were allowed to cast their votes.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha announced that toll collection will not be allowed in Rajasthan from February 12.
Angry protesters allegedly forced the two vehicles to stop and set them on fire.
The agitating farmers had earlier said they would picket toll plazas to press their demand for a repeal of the three new laws, which were voted through in Parliament in September amid strong protests by opposition parties.
'When a person is very furious, it does give way to tears.' 'It was in this emotional state of mind that he took a decision to not vacate the Ghazipur border without fearing the consequences.'
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