Kisan Kranti March: Central government wakes up to farmers' plight

The Central government woke up to the plight of the farmers who fought pitched battles with the police at Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border on Tuesday. The farmers started their protest march on September 23 from Haridwar, the gateway of Indian culture and civilisation, and headed towards Kisan Ghat in Delhi for demonstration. It was when they reached Delhi-Ghaziabad border on Tuesday, that the government finally decided to engage with the protesters.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh held meeting with farmers' leaders and discussed their demands. The meeting which took place in the Home Minister's residence saw the participation of several leaders of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), which had called the demonstration. Singh discussed the demands, ranging from farm loan waiver to fuel prices, as put forth by the farmers. BKU chief Naresh Tikait, however, was not in the meeting. The Home Minister spoke to him over phone.

Singh also held discussions with Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and Union Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat over the demands made by the agitating farmers.

After the meeting Shekhawat said, "We held discussions with representatives of Bharatiya Kisan Union. In the end, we reached agreements on some issues, and they assured us that the agitation will be called off."

Yudhvir Singh, BKU spokesperson, said, "We had a discussion on 11 points. Government agreed on seven points, but didn't agree on four points yet. They said they will have to think about those demands in a further meeting, as it is a financial matter." The spokesperson, however, did not mention calling off the protest.

While the meeting with the ministers continued for three long hours, police took resort to lathi charge, water cannon and tear gas to stop the farmers protesting outside as they tried to break the police barriers.

When later in the day, Shekhawat along with Uttar Pradesh Cane Development Minister Suresh Rana reached at the protest venue, farmers raised slogans 'Suresh Rana wapas jao'.