Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 15
Furious at the treatment received by the BJP government in Delhi on Wednesday, leaders of Punjab’s agricultural unions have vowed to intensify their uproar in the coming days.
Unions will take their protests from the train tracks, where the ‘Rail Roko’ campaign has been running since October 1, to the streets of urban areas.
Read also: BJP leader Vijay Sampla detained after sitting in dharna in Punjab’s Muktsar
A union leader said that BJP leaders would be put in gherao and held captive in their residences while farmers would move in to start “pucca dharnas.” Businesses owned by two large corporate houses, including gasoline pumps, would not be able to operate, they said. He said that retail businesses, as well as highway toll plazas operated by these corporate giants, would be shattered.
While BJP leaders are on the receiving end of farmers because of farm laws, especially the Agricultural Products Trade and Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, enacted by their party government in the Center, the action against corporate houses are seen as a consequence of fears that the laws were intended to benefit them.
Read also: SAD activists protest against agricultural laws in front of Krishi Bhawan in Delhi
Some farmers’ unions have also decided to burn the effigies of BJP leaders in urban areas on October 25. The unions will announce a final decision on the future action plan after their meeting, which is currently underway in Chandigarh.
Furthermore, efforts will be made to involve all Punjab workers unions in the protest. Already several unions, including teachers’ unions, have provided support to farmers.
The largest farmers union, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), has already intensified its stir with the launch of ‘pucca dharnas’ outside the residences of BJP leaders. The farmers are simply sitting outside, restricting the entry and exit of these leaders from their houses.
