Farmers try to rope in tractors for rally
GHAZIABAD: With the Supreme Court on Monday directing that the Delhi Police should decide on the proposed tractor march in Delhi on Republic Day by farmers, the farmers’ leaders at the UP Gate protest site are busy trying to rope in thousands of tractors, approaching villagers in different areas of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh for the planned rally.
Thousands of farmers on January 7 had taken to the Eastern Peripheral Expressway in their tractors and carried out a tractor march.
The farmers had decided that thousands of tractors will be participating in the tractor parade on January 26, which they say will now move on to the Delhi Ring Road instead of at Rajpath earlier proposed.
“The Supreme Court has rightly said that the Delhi Police will decide about the tractor march. We have proposed that we will be on outer Ring Road of Delhi and we will not go inside. We will pose no hurdles. There are thousands of vehicles in Delhi and our tractors will pose no issues,” said Rakesh Tikait, farmer leader and national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU).
“These tractors will come from as far as the border areas and will drive on the sparkling roads of Delhi. These are farmers who grow crops and have a right to see where their crops are stored. We will go ahead with the tractor parade even if the Delhi Police denies us entry,” he said, adding there is no estimate yet on the number of tractors which come to UP Gate before January 26.
Eish Singhal, Delhi Police spokesperson, said that the police would study the Supreme Court order and decide on how to proceed.
Jagtar Singh Bajwa, farmer leader from Uttarakhand and member of the UP Gate farmers’ committee, said that volunteers are spreading messages in every district about the tractor parade.
“Our tractors will pose no disturbance to the Republic Day parade and we will on the outer Ring Road. A message has been sent to villages and hamlets. We have informed them that tractors from Uttarakhand should start on January 23 and tractors from areas such as Bareilly and Lucknow etc., should start on January 22, and reach by January 25,” he said.
The BKU leaders are also holding panchayats and visiting western UP areas to garner support for the tractor parade.
“The tractor parade is being planned so as to show that farmers have great sentiments and support for the country. On Sunday, we held a panchayat at Sisoli (in Muzaffarnagar). Message has been relayed to every district in western UP. From Amroha, we are expecting 1,000 tractors while Bijnor has a presence of about 2,000 tractors. I myself will go to Bhiwani in Haryana where a 45km rehearsal for the tractor parade is planned for Tuesday,” said Gaurav Tikait, farmer leader and president of the youth wing of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.
“Farmers have been told to bring in tractors without trolleys while those who will come to stay at UP Gate can bring trolleys along. Tractors will take NH-9 and can come to UP Gate without any hindrance,” he added.
The National Highway-9 connects UP Gate directly and indirectly to prominent areas of Hapur, Amroha, Rampur, Shahjahanpur, Bareilly and Lucknow, among others. Farmers from Uttarakhand are also expected to take National Highway-9 from Rampur and Moradabad and reach UP Gate.