BJP buses in Bathinda return empty

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, January 5

Buses pressed into service to ferry BJP supporters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally, which eventually got cancelled, had to return empty following a protest by Punjab Kisan Union activists at Raiya village in Rampura Phul area today.

The protesting farmers gheraoed the buses and raised slogans against PM Modi and the Centre.

Gulab Singh Raiya, district president of the union, said: “Farm laws have been repealed, but farmers paid a heavy price for it. More than 700 farmers died during the course of the agitation. Farmers braved bone-chilling nights and excruciating hot summer on the roads for a year. Those wounds cannot be healed by just one announcement. Punjab farmers will always the Modi government.”

Gurtej Singh Mehraj, another leader of the union, said: “The Centre is pro-corporate. The decision to repeal the farm laws cannot make up for the difficulties faced by farmers at the Delhi borders. The PM’s visit ahead of the Assembly elections was another attempt to mislead farmers. It is a democratic right to raise our voice and protest.”