Reiterating his Congress government commitment with theprotesting farmers, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Mondayappealed to the Central government to repeal the three farm legislations. Buthe asked farmers to raise their voice in a peaceful manner.
"#IStandWithFarmers & appeal the Union Govt. torepeal the three anti-farmer laws," the Chief Minister tweeted.
"Our farmers have been struggling for their rightssince more than a year & it is high time that their voice is heard. Irequest the farmers to raise their voice in a peaceful manner."
Punjab Congress president Navjot Sidhu said, "ThePunjab Pradesh Congress Committee firmly stands by farmer unionsIn the war ofright and wrong you cannot afford to be neutral. We urge every Congress workerto fight with all their might against the three unconstitutional blacklaws."
Hundreds of farmers on Monday blocked major highways,including National Highway-1 linking Delhi with parts of Haryana and Punjab,and railway tracks following a nationwide call by farmers' unions.
Traffic across Punjab and Haryana was hit badly and sawtraffic disruptions as farmers, farm labourers, commission agents, shopkeepers,trade and employee unions and activists of political parties squatted onnational highways till 4 p.m.
The protesting farmers parked their tractors on highwaysand major link roads in both Punjab and Haryana and squatted on the road.
Heavy police presence was seen at various places inHaryana and Punjab to maintain law and other in view of the protest by farmers.
The police diverted traffic at several places as thefarmers blocked the highways.
However, there was no report of any untoward incidentfrom anywhere in the states. Emergency medical services were exempted from theblockade.
In view of the 'Bharat Bandh', Haryana Police has issuedan advisory stating that people may face traffic blockages in the state.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of over 32farmer unions, announced to observe the protest.
The agitated farmers are demanding the repeal of thethree farm laws passed by Parliament last year and have expressed apprehensionthat they would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support pricesystem, leaving them at the mercy of big corporate houses.
The government has maintained that the new laws willprovide farmers with better opportunities. It has also accused the oppositionparties of misleading farmers.