Farmers ended their 'Kisan Kranti Yatra' after arriving at Kisan Ghat in the national Capital on Wednesday. The Central Government allowed them to enter Delhi in the early hours of Wednesday, ending the prolonged standoff between the police personnel and protesting farmers.
Within hours, thousands of farmers gathered at Kisan Ghat, the memorial of renowned farmer leader and former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, which is located just adjacent to Raj Ghat between the banks of Yamuna river and Mahatma Gandhi Road, also known as main Ring Road. They offered tributes at the memorial.
"The Delhi Police had removed the barricades around 12.30 am to allow the farmers, who were stopped Tuesday at UP Gate on the Uttar Pradesh-Delhi border during the Kisan Kranti Yatra, to enter the city," said a senior police official.
The farmers entered the national Capital riding their tractors and trolleys and proceeded towards Kisan Ghat where heavy police deployment has been made, the official said. BKU leader Pawan Khatana said police had opened the barricades around 12.30 am.
"We reached the Kisan Ghat in the next couple of hours. By 5 am the farmers had started return journey to their homes in Rajasthan, Haryana, UP, Madhya Pradesh," Khatana, the BKU's Uttar Pradesh unit spokesperson.
The farmers said they have reached an agreement with the Central Government, which, according to them, has accepted "most of the demands". They said their prime demand of increasing the price of crops has been agreed upon by the Government.
"A formal announcement in this regard will be made within six days by the government," Rakesh Tikait, national spokesperson of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU).
No farmers participating in the agitation are now in Delhi, however, several of them, including BKU chief Naresh Singh Tikait are staying put near the UP-Delhi border — the spot for Tuesday's clash with security men. Khatana said some of the farmers are still at UP Gate, the intersection of Madan Mohan Malviya Road in Ghaziabad with the Delhi-Meerut highway getting their tractors repaired.
Thousands of farmers on Tuesday marched towards Delhi over demands ranging from farm loan waiver to cut in fuel prices, pendingsugarcane dues, allowing plying of old tractors, blocking traffic movement on arterial roads leading to the national capital.
Police picketed the border with Uttar Pradesh, imposing prohibitory orders banning assembly of five or more people and holding of any public meeting, usage of any amplifier, loudspeaker, and similar instruments.