The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday ordered the Haryana government to remove within a week the barricading set up at the Shambhu border near Ambala where farmers have been camping since February 13 when their 'Delhi Chalo' march was stopped.
He said the farmer's agitation in Punjab against the new farm laws could lead to 'serious consequences' for national security and alleged that China and Pakistan were seeking to disturb peace in the country's border state. Stressing that his intention was not to disturb peace, Singh said he was trying to 'save' his state's farmers as the Centre was 'playing with' their livelihoods.
Addressing the members of the House, Singh said agriculture is a state subject but the Centre ignored it. "I find it very strange what the government of India wants to do," he said.
During the last few meetings, farmer leaders have been arranging their own lunch, snacks and beverages while refusing to have the food organised by the government.
The "MSP Dilao, Kisan Bachao mahapanchayat", called by Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni), was being held at a grain market in Pipli close to National Highway-44 which was blocked by farmers a few days ago demanding that the government procure sunflower seed at MSP.
Unless Punjab has a chief minister who is able to look beyond community/vote bank politics, carry all sections of society, stop appeasing while addressing genuine concerns and break the stranglehold of the SGPC over Sikh affairs, my beloved home state is bound to die and conversions will be rampant, warns Sanjeev Nayaar.
The actor-politician said she must remember that she is not only an artiste but also a BJP member now and her statements should be in line with her party's policies.
Overall profitability in the agriculture sector is expected to be marginally higher at the pan-India level in the 2024-25 kharif season, driven largely by higher production and low input cost, but offset by the declining price of some produce, according to a report released by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd on Wednesday. The report said that region-wise farm profitability in the northern belt was expected to be relatively better than in the southern belt, while the eastern and western belts presented a mixed bag.
The Delhi chief minister also asked people to vote in the coming Lok Sabha polls to elect an MP, not the prime minister, saying the MP would "work for you during tough times".
If the protests have cemented the ties between the peasantry and the traders, the political implications for the BJP might become too serious to be disregarded because its core base was made up of the urban Khatri merchants.
Police said farmers have been allowed to hold peaceful protest at the Nirankari Ground in north Delhi.
"There is a clear hand of the Punjab government in it. Here in Haryana, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other Congress leaders besides some Left leaders are instigating farmers to take law in their hands," Haryana chief minister M L Khattar said
The initiative would provide double the relief announced by the states of UP and Maharashtra, the Punjab CM said.
For over three months, the three Delhi border points at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur have transformed into townships occupied by thousands of farmers from different parts of the country, mainly Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.
Kisan Mazdoor Sangh (KMS) and Kisan Sena (KS) made a representation, which also included a demand for strengthening the dispute resolution system in case of any trouble in contract farming.
Arun Maira who worked for 25 years with the Tata Group, remembers his early years with Ratan Tata.
'The government till now said that we did not want a meeting, now that we have specifically told them when, where and what of the meeting, there is no response from them'
Farmers blocked the national highway in Pipli in Haryana's Kurukshetra district for a second day Tuesday over the MSP for sunflower seeds, with BKU leader Rakesh Tikait asking the state government to accept the demand or send farmers to jail.
'Only then will we withdraw the agitation.'
The five-time former Punjab chief minister died at a private hospital in Mohali near Chandigarh on Tuesday, nine days after he was admitted there with breathing problems. He was 95.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said the Congress would root out the weeds in the form of the Akali-Bharatiya Janata Party combine.
Almost all will say no. Then ask them why they don't push back at those who rise the slogan of Khalistan. Somebody would confront you with a counter-question: If people can talk of a Hindu Rashtra, why get so upset if others talk of a Sikh Nation, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Bandaa Singh Chaudhary compromises on its hard realism to go after an easily digestible, mass, entertainer that ultimately undoes everything that the film had set out to say, sighs Mayur Sanap.
In a joint statement, leaders of eight opposition parties extended their support to the farmers who are protesting the three farm laws.
Families of farmers along with fellow villagers at many places in Punjab, which had once remained the epicentre of the farmers' agitation, will prepare 'ladoos', 'jalebis', 'barfi' and other sweets to welcome them, farmer leaders said.
Union ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai and farmer leaders from Punjab will meet on Sunday for the fourth round of talks.
Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took his fight against the contentious land acquisition bill to Punjab as he travelled by train today to visit the National Democratic Alliance-ruled state and see the condition of farmers with his own eyes.
Mann said blocking roads by holding sit-ins had become a "trend" during the past few days, taking on the farmers' unions virtually head-on in an uncommon thing for any chief minister of the agrarian state.
The marches will also register the farmers' protest against non-fulfilment of various promises by the government, farmer leaders said.
'The Khalistanis get bulk of the money from abroad.' 'Where did Amritpal's Mercedes come from, which costs well over Rs 60 lakhs?' 'Where does his fleet of vehicles come from?' 'Local Punjabis can certainly not contribute this kind of money.'
Haryana is witnessing a multi-cornered contest this time, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party facing anti-incumbency and a resurgent Congress.
The Sikhs love a good fight, and that's what the Modi government has given them.
Rahul Gandhi on Thursday visited the family of a debt-ridden farmer, who committed suicide last week, barely a month after he had met the Congress vice president to apprise him of farmers' woes.
'As of now, it is hard to see how the stalemate can be broken.' 'For the Sikh Jat farmers who constitute the core of the protest are a simple-minded but stubborn lot. 'They are unlikely to call off the stir unless provided a sense of 'victory'.' 'Give them a reason to boast that they brought the government to its knees and they will start singing hallelujahs to the Modi government,' argues Virendra Kapoor.
the free power would put an additional burden of Rs 439 crore on the state exchequer as compared to Rs 250 crore earlier.
Farmer organisations also called for boycott of mandis or wholesale markets in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Mahrashtra, leading to fears of shortage and price rise.
A large number of people from different walks of life, including farmers from neighbouring states of Delhi and DU students, reached Jantar Mantar on Thursday and expressed solidarity with the wrestlers protesting there demanding the arrest of WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The deceased were identified as Shamsher Singh (around 45 years of age), a resident of Lidhra village in Punjab's Sangrur district, Jashandeep Singh (18), a resident of Chauke village in Punjab's Bathinda district, and Jagbir Singh (60), a resident of Jind in Haryana, the police said.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait exhorted farmers to be ready for a massive nationwide agitation over their demands as a 75-hour sit-in by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha in Lakhimpur Kheri seeking the removal of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra and a law on minimum support price (MSP) entered the second day on Tuesday.
The police deployed tear gas and water cannons for a second day to stop the farmers from marching to Delhi.
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