The Jaipur-Delhi national road in the Alwar district of Rajasthan remained partially blocked on Tuesday as farmers’ protest against the centre’s new farm laws began on the third day.
The farmers were led by Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav, CPIM lawmaker Balwan Poonia and former lawmaker Amra Ram.
“We don’t know why the Haryana police and government are holding us up. We don’t ask anything from them. This act of the Haryana government is undemocratic, ”Yadav told reporters. The Haryana police barricaded entry at the border and prevented the farmers from marching towards Delhi. The farmers crouch on the border to urge them to repeal the three farm laws.
On Monday evening, the protesting farmers had their food on the blocked national road and slept in tents and vehicles.
The national president of Kisan Panchayat, Rampal Chaudhary, is also camping in Shahjahanpur, calling for the farm laws to be withdrawn. The three agricultural bills passed in September were planned by the government as major reforms in the agricultural sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have expressed concern that legislation would pave the way for the removal of the minimum support price safety cushion and abolish the mandi system and hand them over to large companies.