Thousands of farmers spent night under open sky
Ghaziabad, Oct 2 : Thousands of farmers from across Uttar Pradesh spent Monday night on the roads under the open sky here as they were not allowed to enter the national capital -- their destination for protest.
A group of about 150 women farmers from Sultanpur -- situated at a distance of 140 km from the Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow -- came in trains and buses to support the demands raised by the farmers.
"We came here as the farmers are facing issues and there is no one to listen to us. I came with my entire family including my daughter-in-law and a six-month-old granddaughter," Shamlalli, 55, told IANS on Tuesday morning. Both her husband and son are farmers.
Recalling her experience of spending a night on the roadside, she said although they live in the open, this was difficult.
"We are not used to living inside rooms but sleeping in traffic was different. Plus, we heard the city is unsafe for women, so we were also really worried," the woman said.
Not only ladies, but teenage girls were also part of the gathering of farmers who marched under the banner of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.
"How can they think that we can be dangerous? We only want the government to address our issues," she added.
Echoing her, 32-year-old Rashmi Yadav said: "The authorities decided to stop us even after knowing for long that we will be here.
"First, no one is bothered about our demands, and now they are not even allowing us to protest and raise our issues," Rashmi told IANS.
Claiming to be over 50,000 in number, BKU protesters were on a march from Haridwar in Uttarakhand to reach the national capital.
Asked how they managed the night, 47-year-old Jhalak Singh from Muzaffarnagar -- 128 km from Delhi -- said they did not expect to be stopped like this.
"We are farmers, we are not here to bother people but to raise our demands. Some of us came in cars, some in tractor-trolleys and some on buses and trains.
"We have made arrangements for our food and also brought sheets with us to sleep. But we were not expecting that we will be forced to spend the night on the sides of the main road. There were ladies with us as well," he said.
The farmers have a charter of 15 demands including loan waiver and fair prices for crops, which they want implemented without delay.
The demands include complete loan waiver, revoking ban on 10-year-old tractors in the National Capital Region, 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.
On Tuesday, as the thousands of farmers tried to enter Delhi, police stopped them on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, triggering violence that left some of them injured.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
