Ahead of the Republic Day tractor rally by the farmers protesting against the agriculture laws passed by the Centre, a group of farmer union leaders are meeting Delhi, Haryana and UP Police on Wednesday, 20 January. In the meeting, the farmer leaders will discuss the route and arrangements for their scheduled rally.
“A group of farm union leaders, including Balbir Singh Rajewal and others, will meet top officials of Delhi Police to discuss the route and other arrangements for their protest march on Republic Day against the three farm laws,” Jamuri Kisan union leader Kalwant Singh Sandhu told PTI.
“We've told them that we will hold the tractor march at Ring Road and that they should accept it. We will have further information after the meeting but they won't face any disturbance due to it,” Gurnam Singh Chaduni, a member of Bharatiya Kisan Union said on Wednesday ahead of the meeting, according to ANI.
PTI reported that Joint Commissioner of Police (Northern Range) SS Yadav will coordinate the meeting on behalf of the Delhi Police. Officials from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh Police departments will also attend the meeting.
According to The Indian Express, a meeting had also been held at Singhu border on Tuesday between the farmers and Delhi Police officials, where the route and security arrangements were discussed. The report said that while police have asked the farmers to hold the march at the outskirts of Delhi, the latter have expressed their desire to do it on Outer Ring Road.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana protesting near the national capital have refused to call off the Republic Day tractor rally, despite the objection from Delhi Police. The farmers had said that the rally would take place peacefully on the Outer Ring Road, without disrupting the Republic Day parade at Rajpath.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, allowed the Central government to withdraw their plea asking the court for directions against the proposed tractor rally by protesting farmers on Republic Day, after Chief Justice of India SA Bobde reiterated that this was not something within their purview.
(With inputs from ANI and The Indian Express.)
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