Chandigarh, September 20
On Sunday, Haryana police used a water cannon to prevent activists from the Punjab Youth Congress from entering the state through Ambala during a tractor rally against the Center’s agriculture-related bills.
Youth Congress activists were heading to Delhi via the Chandigarh-Delhi highway when police stopped them at the heavily barricaded entrance to Haryana.
The situation on the Haryana-Punjab border became tense as the protesters stood firm in continuing their march towards the national capital.
Some activists tried to set fire to a tractor after the march stopped.
Haryana Police denied permission to the Youth Congress workers, saying they would not allow traffic movement on the national highway to be disrupted and also citing coronavirus restrictions.
After being denied permission to enter Haryana, activists from the Youth Congress ended their protest at the site.
Vehicle traffic was stopped on the road. However, there was no roadblock.
The head of the Punjab Congress, Sunil Jakhar, who also joined protesters at the Youth Congress, said that all parties except Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP support farmers for their cause.
He attacked the head of Shiromani Akali Dal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, accusing him of having previously supported “black laws”.
The president of the Indian Youth Congress, Srinivas BV, said his party is side by side with farmers and called the reforms “anti-farmers”.
The president of the Punjab Youth Congress, Barinder Singh Dhillon, told the media in Mohali’s Dera Bassi that this is the “beginning of the fight for farmers’ rights.”
Protesters also released black balloons earlier in the day as a sign of protest against the Bills. – PTI
