SP workers protest new farm laws in various dists
Dozens detained in Prayagraj; Varanasi, east UP dists see protests too
PRAYAGRAJ/VARANASI: Samajwadi Party (SP) workers staged a demonstration at the district collectorate in support of the farmers agitating against the new farm bill, on Monday. The agitation resulted in traffic diversions at the collectorate till 1 pm in the afternoon.
With a heavy force deployment in place, around 100 SP leaders and workers were detained and taken to the police lines. Rajya Sabha MP Reoti Raman Singh and his son Karchhana MLA Ujjawal Raman Singh were also placed under house arrest at their house in Ashok Nagar.
Hundreds of SP workers led by city unit president Sayyed Iftekhar Hussain, district president Yogesh Chandra Yadav reached the collectorate and tried to demonstrate at the stage which they had made. However, they were detained by the police and taken to police lines.
Another group of SP workers staged a protest outside Reoti Raman Singh’s residence protesting his house arrest.
Those detained included MLC Man Singh Yadav, former MP Dharmaraj Patel, Nagendra Patel, former MLA Haji Parvez and others. SP (city) Dinesh Kumar Singh said heavy force was deployed around the collectorate and SP workers were not allowed to enter the premises.
Meanwhile, in Varanasi and in different districts of Eastern UP, SP workers, members of other opposition parties and social activists staged protests on
Monday in support of the silent protest by the agitating farmers, demanding cancellation of the three agri laws. However, it was business as usual in the villages in Varanasi district.
A heavy police bandobast was in place at toll gates on the national highway connecting Delhi to Kolkata and tight security arrangements in bordering districts, including Ghazipur, Chandauli, Sonbhadra and Mirzapur. A group of farmers along with social activists set fire to an effigy of the three agriculture laws in Khewali village of Varanasi on Monday evening, demanding that the laws be cancelled. Khewali is the village of famous poet Sudama Pandey Dhumil.
Social activist Nandlal Master said that farmers are demonstrating at the Singhu border for about a fortnight demanding cancellation of the three agri laws. However, the government has not taken any positive stand for cancelling them. If the three laws are not cancelled, the protests will continue.”
Master said that the BJP government promised to double the income of farmers. But now it has ignored the interest of farmers and brought in these laws. It doesn’t want the farmers to get minimum support prices.
Farmer Devi Shankar Singh said that the government at the centre is helping capitalists and ignoring farmers. He said that the farmers launched the agitation because the centre was not listening to them.
A demonstration was staged at the BHU gate and anti-government slogans were raised. SP workers also staged a demonstration in Sonbhadra and other districts. Srinarayan Patel, village head of Jayapur, the first adopted village of prime minister Narendra Modi, said, “It is business as usual in the villages. Farmers are busy farming. Visit any village, you will find farmers in the field. In this region, there is no protest against the agri reform laws.”