Accusing the State Government of pursuing an anti-farmer policy, hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party Kisan Morcha members led by the State BJP president Tirath Singh Rawat gheraoed the Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday.
The BJP leaders vented anguish over the Congress-led State Government on the issue of the mounting grievances of the State’s farmers, broke through two police barricades and reached atop the last barricade at Rispana Bridge while shouting anti-Government slogans.
Police made abortive attempt to prevent the BJP workers from advancing towards Vidhan Sabha at the first and the second barricading.
Hundreds of BJP Kisan Morcha members from various parts of the State assembled at Bannu School Campus, Race Course where the State leaders addressed the gathering, accusing the State Government of failing on all fronts in terms of addressing the common people’s concerns.
The leaders alleged that the Congress Government was singularly lackadaisical while addressing the worsening plight of the peasants.
later, the BJP members led by senior leaders, including Tirath Singh Rawat, Vinod Chamoli, Munna Singh Chauhan and Umesh Aggarwal took out a rally from Bannu School with an intention to gherao the Vidhan Sabha.
The rally snaked through various localities of the city. In course of the rally, the protesters were witnessed carrying sugarcane by way of venting outrage at the State Government for failing to address sugarcane farmer’s predicament. To keep things under control, police followed the rally till they reached outside the police barricading.
The protesters were restricted outside police barricading at Rispana Bridge as heavy police forces were deployed to stop the protesters who were advancing towards Vidhan Sabha. Police got embroiled in heated verbal arguments with the protesters when the latter were intent on breaking the police barricading at Rispana Bridge. Making good use of the restraint the police exercised, some of the senior leaders and workers broke through two police barricades and reached atop the last barricade at Rispana Bridge while shouting anti-government slogans.
The members squatted near the last barricading and kept on shouting slogans against the State Government.
During the rally, the protesters were seen using force against police to break through the barricading. After an hour of protest at the barricade, BJP senior leaders, including Tirath Singh Rawat and Vinod Chamoli, courted arrest and later they were released at Police line.
BJP president Rawat accused the Harish Rawat Government of misleading the farmers as well as common people of the State. The Government seems to be sleeping over the peasants’ plight. BJP has launched a campaign against the Government for its anti-common people as well as anti-farmer policy. His party would not sit idle with the State Government running roughshod over the people’s aspirations with precarious apathy, he said.
Other party members said that the central government has taken all possible steps to facilitate farmers while the Congress- led State Government has been exploiting the farmers for years.