Chandigarh: Farmers' organisations staged protests across Punjab hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, accusing the Centre of sacrificing farmers' interests in favour of corporate forces and demanding a legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP) along with clarity on the proposed India-US trade agreement.
Workers of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) burnt an effigy of the Prime Minister at Golden Gate in Amritsar. District president Ranjit Singh Kaler alleged that the Centre was pursuing policies benefiting corporates at the expense of farmers and labourers. He also claimed that Jalandhar KMSC president Salwinder Singh Jaaniya was placed under house arrest to prevent him from joining the protests and warned that such actions would only intensify the agitation.
Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) leader Sarwan Singh Pandher announced demonstrations at district headquarters during Modi's visit. He alleged that the railway projects to be inaugurated formed part of a wider privatisation agenda and reiterated demands for a statutory MSP guarantee, farm loan waiver and a detailed explanation of the proposed trade pact's impact on farmers and agricultural workers.
Pandher also accused the BJP-led Centre of remaining indifferent to the deaths of more than 750 farmers during the Delhi border protests and later agitations at Shambhu and Khanauri. He urged the Prime Minister to address the release of long-jailed Sikh prisoners, Punjab's representation in the Bhakra Beas Management Board and the state's river water rights.
Modi is visiting Chandigarh and Jalandhar to inaugurate multiple development projects. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann will receive him in Chandigarh but will not accompany him to the official functions, with Cabinet ministers Harpal Singh Cheema and Aman Arora deputed instead.