Farmers protest, burn CM’s effigy

The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) staged a protest against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during his visit to Tarn Taran here today and burnt his effigy. The Chief Minister was here along with Aam Aadmi Party's state in-charge Manish Sisodia, state president Aman Arora and other state and local leaders. The AAP leaders came on the last day of the withdrawal of the nomination papers for the by-election to Tarn Taran Vidhan Sabha seat which fell vacant after the death of the AAP MLA Dr Kashmir Singh Sohal.

The KMSC activists had earlier protested against the CM on October 17 when he came here to accompany the party candidate for the filing of nomination papers and the KMSC activists were manhandled.

The police had made tight security arrangements to prevent KMSC activists from entering the town to protest.

The activists were locked up in a religious Dera on the outskirts of the town but the farmers broke through the siege and marched to the town. The farmers reached Chaunk Bohri in the heart of the town and lodged their protest. The pretesting farmers burnt the effigy of the CM and raised slogans against the state government and the CM Bhagwant Mann.

District president of KMSC Satnam Singh Manochahal and other leaders like Harjinder Singh Shakri and Jarnail Singh Noordi, while speaking on the occasion, said the farmers only wanted to get their questions answered peacefully and wanted to know the reason for the harassment and theft of their tractor-trolleys at the Shambu-Khanauri border seven months back. The leaders added that despite the devastation caused by the recent floods, the government was not sincere in giving sufficient compensation to the affected farmers. They alleged that state government was yet to fulfill the promises made to the farmers.

The KMSC leaders said that Bhagwant Mann was the Chief Minister of Punjab but they were stopped from meeting him. They said that farmers are not in favour of burning paddy straw and should be given compensation at the rate of Rs 200 per quintal or in the form of other incentives to encourage them.