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New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS): Even as farmers of Punjab and Haryana continued to rally at Singhu and Tikari border entry points, scores of Uttar Pradesh farmers gathered at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Ghazipur border on Sunday morning in their bid to enter the national capital.
Though the police officials were holding talks with them and were willing to allow them to go to Burari in north-west Delhi where a section of farmers have already been camping, the farmers from Uttar Pradesh – rallying under the banner of Bharatiya Kisan Union -- were adamant on visiting Parliament House in central Delhi to lodge their protest against the three central farm laws.
East Delhi's Additional DCP Manjeet Sheoran crossed the Delhi border and interacted with leaders of around 200 farmers who had gathered in Ghaziabad territory adjoining Delhi.
Even as police officials asked farmers about their plans for the day, they did not reveal anything in this regard.
Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's advice to farmers to rally in Burari, Sanjay Tyagi, a farmer from Muzaffarnagar, said: "What will we get by going to Burari? Will Amit Shah come there to seek our votes? If he wishes to talk to farmers, he should come on the interstate border."
"The Centre is harassing farmers. Only farmer and jawans did not give up during coronavirus. We will go to Parliament House and nowhere else," he told IANS.
He said that farmers were well aware of the inconvenience caused to the general public due to their plan to hold protest in Delhi, but asserted that it was the need of the hour as the farmers fed the whole country.
"Talks with farmers are going on; we have told the farmers that we are ready to send them to Burari. They have not yet taken a decision. If they are willing, we will take them to the Burari ground," Sheoran said.
He said that the police had no information as yet on the arrival of more farmers on the spot from various places in Uttar Pradesh.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday urged the protesting farmers to reciprocate to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's gesture by accepting his appeal to shift to a designated place, thus paving the way for early talks to resolve their issues.
Reacting to Shah's offer to hold discussions with the farmers at the earliest, Amarinder Singh said it is in the best interest of the farming community and the nation at large.
Shah's statement reflecting the Centre's willingness to listen to the farmers is a welcome step, said the Chief Minister, stressing that the only solution to the current stalemate on the farm laws issue is discussion.
Since the Home Minister has made it clear that the government of India is "ready to deliberate on every problem and demand" of the farmers, and would hold talks the day after the farmers shift to the designated site in Delhi for their protest, the leaders should also move forward, said the Chief Minister.
Only by sitting across the table can both sides come to a solution to the problem, he added.