BKU-led farmers set to reach Rajghat
Ghaziabad, Oct 1 : Thousands of farmers from Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are set to reach Rajghat in Delhi to press the central government to concede their demands, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) said on Monday.
The BKU-led 'Kranti Yatra', which started from Haridwar in Uttarakhand, has reached Ghaziabad and farmer leader Naresh Tikait said the farmers were determined to enter Delhi.
Earlier, the farmers were to spend Monday night in Ghaziabad for which the district administration had made arrangements at the Kamla Nehru Nagar ground.
In view of the heavy inflow of farmers, the administration has diverted public transport on National Highway 58.
The farmers spent Sunday night in Murad Nagar near the upper Ganga canal.
Tikait told reporters that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) grabbed power in 2014 by misleading farmers that their income would be doubled. Believing the party, the farmers voted for them.
"But after grabbing power in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has forgotten its promises. So we have come to remind them their promises," he said.
A memorandum to be submitted to the Centre includes 21 demands including implementation of the M.S. Swaminathan Commission report, waiver of farm loan, free electricity to farmers and allowing power connections to farmers to run tube wells.
Tikait said the farmers plan to reach Rajghat on Monday night or Tuesday morning "where we will pay tributes to Chaudhary Charan Singh, Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Babu Jagjivan Ram.
"Over one lakh farmers are expected to reach Rajghat although Delhi Police have sealed all entry points... We appeal to the government not to deprive us of our basic fundamental rights to pay tributes to our leaders."
Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna said security arrangements had been tightened and nine companies of paramilitary forces had been deployed in Ghaziabad.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Will vacate one of two assembly seats won in 10 days: BJP''s Suvendu
Kolkata (PTI): BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur and secured Nandigram for three times in a row in the recent assembly polls, said on Wednesday that he would vacate one of the two constituencies within 10 days.
Adhikari also asserted that the party's central leadership would decide which constituency he would retain.
"I will vacate one seat within 10 days. The party will decide which one I retain. I will not forget my responsibility towards the people of Bhabanipur and Nandigram," he said.
Adhikari on Monday defeated Banerjee in Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes, puncturing what was long seen as her safest political refuge and delivering a decisive psychological blow to the TMC, amid a sweeping BJP surge across West Bengal.
Addressing party workers and supporters in Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP leader appealed to them not to take out victory processions immediately and instead maintain peace.
"Do not take out victory rallies now. Maintain peace and discipline. Celebrate after May 9, after taking permission," he told party workers.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Wednesday announced that the oath-taking ceremony of the new government will be held on May 9 at Brigade Parade Ground.
Referring to alleged attacks on BJP workers during the TMC regime, Adhikari said he would not forget the “atrocities" faced by them and assured them of taking appropriate action against perpetrators through legal processes.
"I was part of the 2011 ‘poribartan’ (change), and now I am part of the real change. I offer my gratitude to the people of Nandigram," Adhikari said.
He was referring to the TMC's victory in 2011 when the Mamata Banerjee party dismantled the 34-year Left Front regime in the state.
Adhikari offered prayers at a Hanuman statue in Nandigram and remembered the BJP workers, who had died in political violence.
"We will work in such a way that the BJP government in Bengal stays for 100 years," he said, expressing hope that the BJP’s vote share in the state would rise from the current 46 per cent to 60 per cent in future elections.
The BJP leader also assured residents of Nandigram of improved drinking water supply and better hospital and education infrastructure.
