Hindustan Times (Chandigarh)

SKM leaders gear up for Panipat rally on Sept 26

- HT Correspond­ent letterschd@hindustant­imes.com

KARNAL: Farm leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, are likely to address the farmers at a statelevel rally that will be organised in Panipat on September 26.

The rally assumes significan­ce as the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has given a call of Bharat Bandh on September 27 on completion of 10 months of their ongoing agitation against three controvers­ial farm laws enacted by the Centre last year.

Farm leader from Karnal, Ratan Mann, who is monitoring the arrangemen­ts for the rally said this rally will be historic as thousands of farmers of Haryana will reach Panipat to attend the rally.

As per informatio­n, the

Bharatiya Kisan Union’s Haryana unit will organise the rally and they have invited many leaders of the SKM.

“The rally is being organised by the Bharatiya Kisan Union as farmers from Panipat have invited Rakesh Tikait to honour him for the ongoing agitation,” said Ratan Mann, state Bharatiya Kisan Union president.

He said thousands of farmers from the state will attend the rally as farm leaders will give an important message ahead of the Bharat Bandh.

A 26-member committee has been formed to ensure a huge gathering at the rally.

As of now, there is no informatio­n on whether Haryana BKU (Charuni) president Gurnam Singh Charuni will attend the rally or not but without naming anybody Mann said they have invited SKM leaders, including Rakesh Tikait.

There are reports that earlier there were no plans to invite Charuni at the rally but later, some farm leaders objected to this as Charuni’s absence may put a question mark because Charuni and his supporters played a key role in several protests, including Karnal.

“We cannot confirm whether Charuni will attend this rally or not but we will see if they have sent us an invite,” said Rakesh Bains, spokespers­on of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni).

This will be the first such rally in state after the three-day protest by farm leaders over lathi-charge on farmers on August 28 in Karnal.

Mann said the rally is being organised to “awaken” the government to repeal the antifarmer laws.

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