BJP officials’ houses are the site of a protest by BKU (Ugrahan) as the farmers’ “Delhi Chalo” march begins its fifth day

On the fifth day of the farmers’ protest, the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) will stage dharnas outside the homes of three prominent BJP politicians in Punjab. The demands of the farmers include a legal guarantee for MSP.

In addition to staging dharnas outside the residences of former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, senior politician Kewal Singh Dhillon, and president of the BJP’s Punjab unit Sunil Jakhar, the union will stage demonstrations at state-wide toll plazas in support of the farmers’ “Delhi Chalo” request.

During the fifth day of their ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest, which was organized by the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), farmers remained at the border crossings between Punjab and Haryana. They are pressing the government to grant their demands, which include a legally-mandated guarantee of a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.

Tear gas shot at the farmers during the Samyukta Kisan Morcha Bharat Bandh near the Shambhu Border.
VISUAL | ‘Delhi Chalo’: At the Punjab-Haryana border, a farmers’ protest march encounters barbed wire and tear gas.
Punjabi farmers started their march to Delhi on Tuesday, but at the border crossings with Haryana at Shambhu and Khanauri, security guards halted them.

Since then, the demonstrators have remained at the two border crossings.

In support of the farmers who are protesting, the Haryana-based Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni), headed by Gurnam Singh Charuni, will hold a tractor rally on Saturday.

The fourth session of negotiations between farmer leaders and Union ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal, and Nityanand Rai is scheduled for this Sunday.

The parties had prior meetings on February 8, 12, and 15, but the discussions ended without a resolution.

Tear gas shot at the farmers during the Samyukta Kisan Morcha Bharat Bandh near the Shambhu Border.
Agriminister calls the third round of the Centre-farmers negotiations “positive,” as protesters remain at the Punjab-Haryana border points.
The Haryana Police made public a number of videos on Friday that they said showed many farmers at the Shambhu border hurling stones at security guards and trying to provoke them.

The police said in a post on X that “ruckus” was not permitted while the farmers’ movement was in effect.

They said that during fights with the farmers, 25 security personnel—seven jawans from the paramilitary force and eighteen members of the Haryana Police—were hurt.

Leading farmers behind the “Delhi Chalo” demonstration demanded that the Haryana police had used “force” against the demonstrators, injuring several of them with rubber bullets and tear gas shells.

A heart attack claimed the life of a sixty-three-year-old farmer who was part of the demonstrators at the Shambhu border on Friday.

Gian Singh, a resident of the Gurdaspur district of Punjab, was brought to the Rajpura Civil Hospital in the morning after complaining of chest trouble.

He was then taken to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala, where medical professionals pronounced him dead.

The farmers who were protesting gave Singh tribute.

An official stated on Friday that a 52-year-old police sub-inspector stationed at the Shambhu border had also passed away.

According to a police spokeswoman, Hira Lal, a member of the Haryana Railway Police, was stationed at the Shambhu border in response to the farmers’ protest.

He said that while he was on duty, his health suddenly deteriorated.

Farm activist Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Friday that social media accounts of farmers and YouTubers had been banned, accusing the Center of attempting to “suppress” the voices of the demonstrators.

Tear gas shot at the farmers during the Samyukta Kisan Morcha Bharat Bandh near the Shambhu Border.
“Muzzling our voice”: A farmer’s leader charges the center of removing their social media accounts.
In addition to a legal guarantee for MSP, the farmers are demanding the following: the reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, pensions for farmers and farm laborers, waivers of farm debt, police cases against them being dropped, “justice” for the victims of the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri in 2021, and compensation for the families of farmers who lost their lives during an earlier agitation in 2020–21.