Lucknow, Jan 29: As the farmers’ protest at Ghazipur border in Ghaziabad got a new lease of life, the opposition Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party on Friday rallied support for the movement and slammed the BJP over the contentious farm laws.
The size of Bharatiya Kisan Union protesters camping at the Ghazipur border with Delhi had come down to around 500 on Thursday night following an ultimatum given by the local administration to vacate the site, as additional security force personnel were deployed there.
However, the crowd increased manifold overnight and continued during the day as more protesters joined the stir from western UP on the call of BKU leaders.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav also threw his party’s weight behind the farmers’ movement and hit out at the BJP for “torturing” the peasants and levelling ‘false accusations’ against them.
“The BJP wants to defeat the farmers, who feed everyone, by keeping them hungry and thirsty, levelling false accusations against them. But barring a few BJP supporters, rest of the 125 crore Indians are still standing with the farmers. SP is with the farmers!’ Yadav tweeted in Hindi.
The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also alleged that the protesters were pelted with stones by BJP hooligans at the Singhu border protest site, where violence broke out on Friday.
Congress Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Kumar Lallu reached the Ghazipur border to express solidarity with the farmers’ movement.
“The Congress stands with full force in support of farmers and the Congress will not allow the farmers’ movement to become weak at any level,” Lallu said, according to a statement from his party.
He also assured the farmer leaders that his party will stand by them and fight till the withdrawal of the three contentious agricultural laws enacted last September by the BJP-led central government.
BSP supremo Mayawati also joined the growing clamour, announcing her party will boycott the President’s address to the joint sitting of both Houses over the Centre’s stand on the farmers’ demand to repeal the new agri laws and its “dilly-dallying” approach on matters of public interest. – PTI
