The farmers from Punjab have announced that they will march to the national capital this week to demand a discussion on Minimum Support Price (MSP). Following this, the police have put up barricades and issued advisory for commuters travelling from Noida to Delhi today, as the first group of farmers, led by the Bharatiya Kisan Parishad (BKP), will begin their march today.

Reports said, the protesting farmers will start their march from the Maha Maya flyover in Noida at noon. Several photos from the spot showed massive traffic jams on the road leading to Delhi. The protestors under the banners of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), have been protesting at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13, after their attempt to march to Delhi was blocked by security forces.

Furthermore, many other farmers will join the protest from December 6, with the march proceeding daily from 9 am to 5 pm. The agitating farmers will spend the nights on the road. While addressing the media on Sunday, Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said farmers have been protesting at Shambhu and Khanauri for 293 days.

The farmers’ leader criticized the BJP-led government, stating that it has not engaged in any talks with the farmers since February 18. He further accused the Centre of avoiding dialogue and reaffirmed that the farmers reject contract farming, demanding instead a legal guarantee on the MSP for crops.

Notably, a three-member panel of Union ministers – Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai – had met with farmer representatives on February 18, but the farmers rejected the Centre’s proposal to purchase pulses, maize, and cotton at the MSP for five years.

Apart from a legal guarantee on the MSP, the protesters are demanding farm loan waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in the electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and justice for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.

Another farmer leader, Guramneet Singh Mangat mentioned that when the first group of farmers begins its march towards Delhi on December 6, other farmer bodies in Kerala, Uttarakhand, and Tamil Nadu will also stage marches towards their respective state assemblies.

Hours after the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government extended the ban on the entry of outsiders into Sambhal till December 10, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said that the BJP is completely bent on dictatorship and it does not believe in democracy.

“Injustice and atrocities are at their peak in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP does not believe in democracy. There is an emergency-like situation in Uttar Pradesh,” Yadav said in a release shared by the party on X.

The former chief minister said imposing a ban shows the failure of the BJP government, administration and management. Asserting that he said if the government had imposed such a ban earlier on “those who thought of causing riots and made people raise frenzied slogans”, the harmony and peace in Sambhal would not have been disturbed.

“It is noteworthy that the District Magistrate of Sambhal, in his order (IPC Section 163), has prohibited the entry of any outsider, other social organization and public representative within the boundary of Sambhal district without permission till 10.12.2024,” the statement read.

The Samajwadi Party chief slammed the UP government for stopping a 15-member delegation from entering violence-affected Sambhal, claiming that the BJP government seeks to conceal the injustices and atrocities it has perpetrated there.

He said that this government is fearful, unwilling to allow the truth to surface, and apprehensive about public outrage.

Yadav accused the government of instructing the police to confine Opposition leaders, including prominent leaders from the Samajwadi Party, to their homes.

He questioned why prominent leaders such as Mata Prasad Pandey, Lal Bihari Yadav, Shyam Lal Pal, and Ravidas Mehrotra were barred from leaving their residences when the restrictions were reportedly limited to Sambhal district.

“Has the BJP government declared a state of emergency across the entire state? The Leader of the Opposition and the State President of the Samajwadi Party couldn’t even reach the party office,” he stated.

“Such house arrest of public representatives poses a serious threat to democracy. Since the BJP took power, it has been systematically undermining democracy and the Constitution,” Yadav added.

The SP chief expressed his displeasure regarding the obstruction faced by the Samajwadi Party delegation. He suggested that similar to how the BJP frequently reshuffles its cabinet, there should be a complete overhaul of the administrative body in Sambhal in response to allegations of negligence, including accountability for any deaths that occurred.

Announcing that the Samajwadi Party would provide financial aid of Rs 5 lakh to each family of the innocent victims of the Sambhal incident, the party has demanded that the BJP government grant Rs 25 lakh in compensation to the families of those killed in the violence.

Furthermore, Yadav asserted that justice is anticipated solely from the President and the Supreme Court, insisting that those who threaten the unity and peace of the nation be held accountable.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being biased towards industrialist Gautam Adani and of discriminating against Wayanad landslides victims by not providing them the due support.

In a joint public meeting with sister Priyanka in Wayanad after her massive victory in the Lok Sabha byelection, Rahul alleged that PM Modi was treating Adani differently from the people of India, despite his indictment in the US, even though the Constitution says everyone should be treated equally.

Hitting out at PM Modi, Rahul claimed that the “PM says it does not matter if Adani has been indicted in the US and called a criminal there, in India we will not indict him”.

Continuing his allegations against the prime minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said Modi discriminates against the people of Wayanad and he was not willing to provide them the support that they were due.

He said: “This is the atmosphere in which we are operating. It is the feelings that people have toward us that give us confidence and protect us.”

After paying tribute to the victims of the landslides, Rahul said his party and the UDF are standing with the people who lost family members, property and suffered in the tragedy.

He said unfortunately his party is not in the government and therefore they cannot do what a government can do. “So, I told my sister and (AICC general secretary) K C Venugopal that every member of the Congress and the UDF should put pressure on the government of Kerala to help the victims of the landslides,” he added.

Rahul said Priyanka’s win from the Wayanad seat indicates that the people have placed their faith and trust in them to represent the hill constituency in the Parliament. He also expressed confidence that the Congress-led opposition will defeat the ideology of the BJP which behaves arrogantly and allegedly spreads hate and divisiveness.