After a day-long protest in support of farmers of Punjab and Haryana, hundreds of farmers, led by senior Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait, moved in tractors and other vehicles from Muzaffarnagar to Meerut via the Delhi-Dehradun highway.
BKU spokesperson Dharmendra Malik said the farmers would spend the night at the Siwaya Toll Plaza in Meerut before proceeding to Delhi on Saturday morning.
Through the day, farmers, under the banner of BKU, blocked highways in Baghpat, Moradabad, Ghaziabad, Amroha, Hapur, and Bulandshahr districts. They were demanding the rollback of three farm laws and said minimum support price should be guaranteed by law. The numbers grew as the day progressed.
Scores of farmers blocked the Yamuna Expressway leading to a traffic jam on the busy route connecting Delhi to Mathura and Agra.
Police detained the Mathura district president of BKU Rajkumar along with some protesters. The impact was also seen in Pilibhit and Lakhimpur.
As there were a number of weddings on Friday, the baraats had to take long detours because of the protests. At some places, the groom was allowed to cross the protest site only after raising slogans in support of the demands of the farmers.
Meanwhile, Anil Sharma, Minister of State in the U.P. government, said those who had hit the roads were not representatives of farmers. “They are the same old 20-30 goons who like to spread anarchy and indulge in violence with government officials in the name of farmers,” he said.
