Farmers ‘ban’ BJP workers’ entry into villages
MEERUT: Farmers of several villages in the region have banned the entry of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers to protest police action against the participants of the ‘Kisan Kranti Yatra’ on the UP-Delhi border early this month. To recall, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) activists and others were heading to Delhi to culminate the rally that had started from Haridwar on September 23 for raising farmers’ concerns.
This latest farmers’ protest has been launched under the aegis of the ‘Kisan Ekta March’. Messages announcing a ban on the entry of anyone associated with the BJP have been displayed on small hoardings and painted on walls.
“Farmers are angry over police force being used on what was a peaceful movement. It will aggravate them further if the government fails to win over their trust and confidence by adopting farmer-friendly initiatives in coming days,” said BKU media in-charge Dharmendra Malik.
Among the villages that are opposing the entry of members of the ruling party are Bawana in Muzaffarnagar, Sansarpur in Bijnore, Rasoolpur in Amroha and Bagadpur in Kanth area. In some places, BJP men have been warned off from entering the villages, with messages reading that they would be doing so “at their own risk”.
In Bawana, residents are also angry with the BJP for failing to resolve the “acute problem of drainage” in the village.
A panchayat was organised in which members blamed the BJP leaders of doing nothing to address the drainage issue despite repeated requests. “We have unanimously decided to restrict the entry of BJP men and to boycott the 2019 elections if the problem remains unattended,” said a village elder.
Responding to their grievance, BJP MLA from Budhana, Umesh Malik, said that the drainage problem was unresolved due to two groups of the village opposing each other.
“The problem of drainage will be resolved if members of both the groups agree on a common plan of work,” he said.