Sharma Chandigarh: Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Friday said the government was not paying attention to farmers’ demands as the ruling party’s sole focus was on winning the Lok Sabha elections ahead. The government should give a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops and meet other demands of protesting farmers, he added. “Rather than paying attention to farmers, they are focused on how to win the elections,” Pandher said, asserting that the farmers’ agitation will continue till their demands are met.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) are spearheading a ‘Delhi Chalo’ march by farmers to press the government to accept their demands.
Pandher said farmer leaders will discuss among themselves and decide on their future course of action. The march was put on hold for two days after 21-year-old Shubhkaran Singh was killed and around 12 police personnel were injured in clashes at the Khanauri border point on the Punjab-Haryana border on February 21.
Two days later, the farmer leaders said the protesters will continue to camp at Khanauri and Shambhu on Punjab’s border with Haryana till February 29 when the next course of action will be decided. However, farmer unions have so far made no announcement. Pandher said a meeting to pay tributes to Shubhkaran Singh will be held by the SKM (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha at his village Balloh in Bathinda on March 3. Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh will attend it in large numbers, he added.
