Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, met farmer leaders on Wednesday at the Parliament. A 12-member farmer leaders delegation had reached Gandhi's office in the Parliament House. The farmer leaders also reportedly requested to introduce a private member bill to address their longstanding demands. In a related development, leaders from the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha announced their plans to burn effigies of the Modi government nationwide and launch a fresh protest to push for the legalisation of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) guarantee. This protest will include a "long march" to support the Opposition's private bills.
"In our manifesto, we have mentioned MSP with a legal guarantee. We have done the assessment and it can be implemented. We had a meeting right now where were decided that we will talk to the other leader of the I.N.D.I.A alliance to put pressure on the Govt that MSP legal guarantee should be given to the farmers of the country," Gandhi said after meeting farmer leaders.
Nationwide tractor rally on August 15
The announcement came while they were addressing a press conference in Delhi. Subsequently, the protesting farmers will take out a tractor rally nationwide on August 15, when the country marks Independence Day. They will also burn copies of new criminal laws. Addressing a press conference, Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) leaders also said that the farmers' 'Delhi Chalo' march will complete 200 days on August 31 and appealed to people to reach Khanauri, Shambhu, etc on the Punjab and Haryana border. Following the announcement, they further informed both the organisations Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) will hold a mega rally in the Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh on September 1.
Rallies to be held in September
It is pertinent to mention here that a rally will be held in the Jind district of Haryana on September 15, 2024, followed by another rally in Pipli on September 22. These events come after the Haryana government set up barricades on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway in February, in response to farmers' unions announcing a march to Delhi to demand a legal guarantee of the Minimum Support Price for crops. Earlier this year, in February, the farmers' protest 2.0 began but was halted at the Haryana borders for several days.
(With inputs from ANI)
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