Tepid response to Dilli Chalo call, farm unions now prepare for ‘rail roko’

Neeraj Mohan

New Delhi, March 6

The “Dilli Chalo” call by protesting farmer leaders of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) witnessed a subdued response on the first day. There were no reports of farmers converging anywhere in Delhi for an indefinite protest at Jantar Mantar.

Sources said the development belied the claim of the unions, leading the agitation at the Punjab-Haryana borders, that they had the support of farmers across states, including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

As the protesting farmers’ march towards Delhi remains halted at the Haryana’s borders with Punjab, SKM and KMM leaders Jagjeet Singh Dallewal and Sarwan Singh Pandher had appealed to farmers to reach the Capital via public transport to press the Centre for their demands, including MSP guarantee and debt waiver.

Meanwhile, with the Delhi Police tightening security at Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur borders, traffic remained hit in the Capital on Wednesday. A huge jam was witnessed at Delhi-Haryana’s Singhu border and Delhi-Noida border due to heavy police deployment. The police have installed barricades at these borders and other parts of the city and intensified checking on roads leading to central Delhi. In response to the tight security at the borders, the unions have given a “rail roko” call for March 10. The leaders threatened to disrupt rail traffic in various parts of the country as part of their intensified agitation.

Since February 13, farmers have been camping at multiple points along the Delhi and Haryana borders. Despite several rounds of negotiations between farmer leaders and the Union Government, a resolution remained elusive.

In a parallel move, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions, announced a national-level protest at Ramlila Ground in Delhi on March 14 in support of their demands.