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Farmers go on 10-day holiday in new form of protest, dump farm produce, stop supplies to cities

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Farmers go on 10-day holiday in new form of protest, dump farm produce, stop supplies to cities

The 10-day ‘Gaon Bandh’ protest of farmers started today, Friday, June 1 with fresh produce from farms and thousands of litres of milk in many places being dumped on streets.

The issues the farmers are pressing for are minimum assured income of Rs.18,000 per month for every agriculturist’s family, implementation of Swaminathan Commission’s report, a price for their produce that gives them 50% more than the total weighted cost of production and waiver of all loans.

Several farmers’ organisation of different states have come together for this agitation on the calll of Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh (RKM), an umbrella body of over 100 farmers organisations. The RKM  made it clear that farmers will not supply any vegetables and dairy produce to the cities for the next 10 days, nor would they buy anything from cities. City dwellers can go and buy farm produce from villages if they want.

The farmers who have called for the 10-day long protest will observe ‘Gaon Bandh’ from 1 June to 10 June, June 5 as Dhikkar Divas, June 6 as Saheed Sahadat Divas, June 8 as Asahyog Divas and June 10 as Bharat Bandh.

The federation has assured that farmers won’t block any roads, but they will sit on dharna along 30 major highways in the country.

Farmers are enthused over this new form of agitation and are more confident over its prospects as they see this as more effective than dharnas and rallies which they used to resort to till now.

The seven states where the protests are being held are Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala, according to media reports. Farmers in Punjab wearing green turbans were seen throwing vegetables, fresh fruits and spilling milk on streets, said media reports. Milk flowed on streets and tomatoes were dumped on a highway near Nashik in Maharashtra.

The hold up along with wastage is going to badly hit the cities.

“This has now become a nation-wide agitation. We have named the protest ‘Gaon Bandh’. We won’t go to cities, as we don’t want to disturb the normal lives of the people. We have decided to observe a Bharat Bandh on 10 June till 2 pm. We would request businessmen in cities to close their shops till 2 pm,” said RKM president Shiv Kumar Sharma.

He added that if anyone wants to buy vegetables and dairy products, they will have to drive to the villages.

The protest also marks the first anniversary of death of seven farmers in police firing in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur on June 6 last year.

“The government responds to the rightful demands of the farmers with lathis and bullets. June 6 is a black day for farmers. Nothing will be supplied by villages to cities for the next 10 days, neither will anything be brought from the cities during the period,” Aam Kisan Union chief Kedar Sirohi said.

Mandsaur was the epicentre of farmers’ protest last year when hundreds of farmers demanded better prices for their crops and loan waivers. The protests turned violent and seven farmers lost their lives in police firing.

Fearing a repeat, the Mandsaur district administration has made elaborate security arrangements. Some farmers have also been made to sign surety bonds to ensure that they would not indulge in violence, reported news agency IANS.

Farmers in Madhya Pradesh have held intermittent protests over the last year-and-a-half regarding issues such as low MSP, prices lower than MSP, inadequate storage facilities, loan-waiver. Most recently, farmers in the state took to the streets to protest when garlic prices slumped to as low as Re 1 per kilogram, with the Madhya Pradesh government’s flagship Bhavantar scheme proving to be of little use.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was in Bhopal on Thursday, however, dubbed the farmers’ agitation as an agitation of the Congress party, according to IANS. “The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state is working for the welfare of farmers and it has taken several big decisions in their interest,” he said.

Trashing the charge, newly appointed state Congress chief Kamal Nath said it is surprising that those who ordered firing at the farmers are now trying to shift the blame for violence on his party.

The strike is likely to affect the supply of milk, fruits and vegetables in cities and towns. Sandeep Gidde, coordinator of the strike said, “Starting Friday, we will stop the supply of milk and vegetables to cities. Farmers will station themselves along highways to stop vehicles transporting milk and vegetables.” He expressed confidence that the strike would be successful.

The RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh has decided not to join farmer protests in eight states, calling the 10-day strike “politically motivated”.

Mohini Mohan, national secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, told News18.com that the latest protests were aimed at influencing the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. “There are politically motivated elements that plan violence and this one has been organised keeping 2019 elections in mind. We don’t want to be part of it.”

2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Lok Sabha elections 2024: 102-year-old man walks to polling booth to cast his vote in Jammu

The lowest voter turnout so far was noted in Ramgarh at 1.53%.

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A 102-year-old man showed up at a Jammu polling place to cast his vote in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday. Haji Karam Din arrived at the Reasi district polling place in the Jammu constituency with a walking stick in hand and a family member who assisted him with the pre-voting process.

Haji Karam Din, who is 102-year-old, showed his inked finger and posed for pictures outside the polling booth after casting his vote. He said voting at this polling place at this age makes him very happy. He has always cast his vote. Even at the age of 102, this experience is still ongoing, he said.

Reasi district is a part of the Jammu parliamentary constituency, and 22 candidates are up for vote with around 17.81 lakh eligible voters.

BJP’s sitting member Jugal Kishore Sharma is aiming for a third term in office following wins in the elections of 2014 and 2019. Former minister and Congress candidate Raman Bhalla is his main opponent.

Voting in the Jammu-Reasi Lok Sabha constituency began with eager voters showing up at the polling places. Some of them were wearing traditional Dogra attire.

In 2,416 polling places around the constituency, voting got underway at 7 a.m., and 10.39% of the total votes were cast by 9 a.m. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Jammu recorded a 74% voter turnout.

Following the repeal of Article 370 and the division of the former state into two Union Territories five years ago, this is Jammu’s first significant election.

The Akhnoor segment received the highest percentage of votes, 14.24%, followed by Reasi (14.13%), Gulabgarh (13.53%), Shri Mata Vaishnodevi (12.71%), Marh (12.31%), Samba (8.56%), R S Pura Jammu South (8.17%), and Suchetgarh (5.67%), according to the officials. Ramgarh recorded the lowest voter participation of 1.53% so far.

Low attendance was observed in the border areas of the districts of Jammu and Samba till nine in the morning, according to poll data.

The officials said that big lines of voters were observed at several polling places throughout Jammu city. Voters were observed heading towards polling places early in the morning.

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India News

Salman Khan house firing case: NIA interrogates arrested shooters Sagar Pal, Vicky Gupta for three hours

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The investigation into the shocking firing incident that took place outside Salman Khan’s house on April 14 keeps bringing new updates with every passing day. In this case, Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, the two suspected shooters, have already been taken into custody.

The two shooters have reportedly been questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), according to a new development. Every day that goes by, more information is revealed about the inquiry into the shocking firing incident that happened outside Salman Khan’s house on April 14. Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, the two accused shooters, are being held in custody after their first arrests.

It was recently discovered that the two shooters were questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

NIA has reportedly begun questioning Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, who were detained a few days ago for firing openly outside Salman Khan’s Galaxy Apartments in Mumbai, according to a recent update posted on their X (Twitter) account. NIA has interrogated shooters Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal, arrested in the firing case, the tweet said.

According to the reports, two Punjabi residents were taken into custody by the Mumbai Crime Branch yesterday on suspicion of being involved in the recent shooting incident outside the house of Bollywood actor Salman Khan.

The two men, Sonu Subhash Chander and Anuj Thapan, provided guns to Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, the shooters, according to information released by the Mumbai Crime Branch. It was also reported that they had communication with the Bishnoi gang. For those who don’t know, hours after the incident, Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, allegedly took credit for the firing in a Facebook post.

The shooters’ custody has been extended by Mumbai’s Esplanade Court until April 29.

Meanwhile, on the workfront Salman Khan was last seen in Tiger 3 alongside Katrina Kaif.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

PM Modi calls for high voter turnout in second phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024, says your vote is your voice

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urges citizens to participate in record numbers during the second phase of polling for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media as the second phase of voting for the Lok Sabha Elections of 2024 got underway across the country to encourage voters to cast votes in huge numbers. PM Modi emphasized in his speech the value of voting in preserving democracy and notably urged women and young people to cast votes.

Taking to social media X, formerly Twitter, PM Modi wrote, urging everyone in constituencies to participate in record numbers in today’s second phase of the Lok Sabha elections. He said our democracy is strengthened by high voter turnout. He especially urged female and youth voters to cast votes in large numbers. Your vote is your voice, he added.

It is important to remember that 88 Lok Sabha constituencies—spread among 13 states and Union Territories—are presently holding polls. Twenty seats in Kerala, fourteen in Karnataka, thirteen in Rajasthan, eight in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, six in Madhya Pradesh, five in Assam and Bihar, three in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one in each of Tripura, Jammu & Kashmir, and Manipur are currently up for election. Notably, the untimely death of a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate has resulted in the Madhya Pradesh constituency of Betul being spared from voting on April 26.

Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar emphasized the thorough planning that has taken place over the previous two years and reassured the public of careful security measures at every voting place. They have been preparing for the last two years, he said. At each booth, the arrangements are ready. Everything has been prepared for the voters, including fans and drinking water. Voters must turn out to cast their votes. Safety has been considered. There is zero information available anywhere regarding violence. However, there will be forces at every booth.

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