Farmers end 10-day march, claim victory
New Delhi, Oct 3 : Thousands of farmers on Wednesday ended their 10-day Kisan Kranti Yatra after arriving at Kisan Ghat in the national capital.
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.
Led by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) chief Naresh Tikait, over 400 tractors carrying thousands of farmers reached Kisan Ghat. Tikait declared it as the "victory of farmers" and said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has failed in its "motives".
"The farmers remained unfazed despite all the hardships. We have been marching for 12 days now, farmers are tired as well. We will continue to demand our rights but for now we are ending the march," Tikait told IANS at Kisan Ghat.
Shouting anti-BJP slogans, the farmers, with blisters on feet, reached Kisan Ghat at around 2 a.m. on Wednesday.
The farmers said they have reached an agreement with the Central government, which, according to them, has accepted "most of the demands".
They said that 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), told IANS, shortly before the farmers called off their march.
The government has also assured the farmers of bearing the costs for the repair of tractors that were damaged during the standoff with the police personnel at Uttar Pradesh-Delhi border earlier on Tuesday.
The farmers raised slogans against the BJP-led Central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
They also hailed former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh -- widely regarded as a hero of the country's peasants, and applauded the coming together of farmers.
The top leadership of the protesting farmers later addressed the gathering and said that they should be united in their future struggles too.
At around 5.30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the farmers began dispersing from the Kisan Ghat.
Amid massive deployment of security personnel at Uttar Pradesh-Delhi border, the farmers reinforced their march to the national capital after obtaining necessary permissions from the administration.
Earlier on Tuesday, as the farmers tried to enter Delhi, police stopped them on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, triggering violence that left some of them injured.
The farmers have a charter of 15 demands including loan waiver and fair prices for crops, which they want implemented without delay.
Their demands include complete loan waiver, revoking ban on 10-year-old tractors in the National Capital Region (NCR), reduction in electricity tariff, implementation of the recommendations of the M.S. Swaminathan Commission on remunerative prices and payment of sugarcane arrears among others.
The protesters started their 10-day march from Haridwar in Uttarakhand led by the BKU and on Tuesday, they reached the Uttar Pradesh-Delhi border. There was heavy deployment of security forces at the border.
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RCB beat MI by 18 runs after batters fire
Mumbai (PTI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli blasted half-centuries as the defending champions beat Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in an Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.
Salt (78 off 36 balls) and Kohli (50 off 38 balls) stitched together a 120-run stand for the opening wicket before Patidar scored a rapid 53 off just 20 balls as RCB posted 240 for 4.
In response, Mumbai Indians were restricted to 222 for 5, with RCB spinner Suyash Sharma (2/47) putting the skids on the home side with a double strike in the eighth over, from which they could not recover.
Sherfane Rutherford top-scored for MI with an unbeaten 71 off 31 balls.
While opener Rohit Sharma appeared to be struggling with a hamstring issue and had to retire hurt on 19, his partner Ryan Rickelton made 37, while Suryakumar Yadav (33) and Hardik Pandya (40) were the other contributors for MI.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 240 for 4 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 78, Virat Kohli 50, Rajat Patidar 53, Tim David 35 not out).
Mumbai Indians: 222 for 5 in 20 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 71 not out, Ryan Rickelton 37, Hardik Pandya 40; Suyash Sharma 2/47).
