One lakh tractors from Haryana to participate in R-day rally

Chandigarh: Several groups of farmers from Haryana will set out on Saturday to participate in proposed tractor parade on January 26 in Delhi. It is expected that around one lakh tractors from Haryana will participate in the tractor rally.

Farmer unions said that a cavalcade of 20,000 tractors from Karnal, 15,000 from Ambala, 5,000 to Kurukshetra, 9,000 from Fatehabad, 5,000 from Jhajjar, 1,000 from Faridabad and Palwal, 6,000 from Jind, 4500 from Panipat and 9,000 from Panchkula will participate in the parade.

Guidelines given by Samyukth Kisan Morcha

Samyukth Kisan Morcha has listed a set of guidelines that need to be strictly followed during the tractor parade. The guidelines state that every participating tractor will have to mandatorily abide by volunteers' orders and will follow the planned routes. It further states that all tractors will complete the parade and will return back to the designated place.

"A tractor cannot have more than five people and no one is allowed to sit on the bonnet, bumper or the roof. Farmers are not allowed to indulge in road racing and all the tractors will follow one line. Use of audio and speaker system is not allowed and farmers must not consume anything intoxicating while driving," the guidelines stated.

Farmers hold rallies to gear up

Farmer leader Jagdeep said, 'Maximum tractors are going to Delhi from Haryana. This shows that the farmers and common people of Karnal have become so upset with this government and have rejected them."

Several groups of women farmers from Haryana will also take part in the tractor rally and have already left for Delhi.

Farmer unions have held several tractor rallies across the state to mobilise people and prepare for the proposed parade in the past few days. Several vehicles sporting the flags could be seen in Haryana.

Farmers have also announced to display tableaus during the parade to showcase the plight of the farming community.

Woman farmer Sunita said, ''Women are gathering in the village and announcing that everyone should participate in the parade on 26 January. We will stand on the borders of Delhi till the government agrees to our demands."

Haryana police issues advisory

Special preparations are in full swing for the tractor parade and farmers have claimed that the rally can go on till January 27th. Arrangements have been made to anchor 10 places on the route from Punjab to Delhi and 'annadaatas' have also stocked up ration and water.

Haryana police have made tight security arrangements and have also issued advisories for the commuters. Police have clearly stated that there will be a traffic snarl on the National Highway that connects Karnal to Delhi.

The Haryana Police has issued an advisory in view of the proposed tractor rally of the farmers. The police have advised the common people to refrain from going from Karnal to Delhi and Rohtak to Delhi for 2 days in view of the tractor parade. Travelling to Delhi via these routes can cause inconvenience.

Leaves of Haryana policemen cancelled

In the wake of the farmers' agitation and their plan to hold a tractor parade on the Republic Day, the Haryana Police on Thursday decided to cancel the leave of its personnel till further orders. Police have also prepared security circles in all the hot spot areas on this route. The police have also made separate traffic arrangements on this route.

READ: Punjab CM tells tractor rallyists to ensure peace

What will be the route?

According to the farmers’ route to be taken for the tractor parade, the farmers will enter 10 km within Delhi from the Singhu border. After this, they will reach Chandi border via Sanjay Gandhi, Transport Nagar, Bawana, Kanjhawala, Qutubgarh. It will then enter Haryana and will come back to the Singhu border. According to farmers, 45 km of this 100-km march will be in Delhi.

The route of the Tikari Border Tractor Parade - Farmers will go to Nangloi from Tikari Border. Then from there, we will reach Najafgarh via Baprola village. After this, the tractor parade of farmers will reach the Jharoda border. From here, the farmers will reach Rohtak bypass (Bahadurgarh) with tractors and after that, they will return to the Tikri border via Asoda.

Traffic snarls expected

Traffic on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) and Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal (KGP) expressways will also be affected. Apart from this, movement on interchanges in Kundli, Asaudha and Badli too will not be easy. Therefore, all the passengers have been advised not to use these routes from 25 to 27 January 2021 to avoid any inconvenience.

Although, the farmers have announced not to interrupt the Republic Day celebrations, after the initial strictness, now the Haryana government has also taken a soft stance towards the farmers. In Haryana, all the barricades on the Punjab border and Delhi border have been removed.

Thousands of farmers from Haryana have been camping at Delhi's borders for several weeks, demanding the repeal of the farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for crops.

They claim that the new laws will weaken the MSP system. But the Centre says the MSP system will remain and the new laws only provide more options for farmers to sell their produce.