Farmer leader Baldev Sirsa faces cardiac issues at Khanauri protest site, hospitalised

Farmer leader Baldev Singh Sirsa was on Wednesday taken to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala from the Khanauri protest site after he faced cardiac issues.

The octogenarian was at the protest site during the ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’, when he complained of chest pain and fell unconscious after which he was rushed in an ambulance to the hospital.

The incident took place at around 11 am when Sirsa, along with other Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) leaders, was sitting in the pandal at the protest site.

Notably, the farmers are organising a 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' at the Khanauri protest site on Wednesday to mark the completion of one-year of the ongoing protest.

The farm unions sitting at Rattangarh, Khanauri and Shambhu are holding ‘Kisan Mahapanchayats’ to mobilise the farmers before the crucial talks with the delegation of the Central Government on February 14.

Meanwhile, a seven-member delegation of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), led by Sarwan Singh Pandher, is holding third round of ‘Ekta’ (unity) talks with the members of SKM (All-India) at Kisan Bhawan in Chandigarh.

Senior farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is the convener of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), has been on the indefinite hunger strike at the Khanauri border point since November 26 last year in support of various demands including a legal guarantee to minimum support price for crops.

Farmers, under the banner of the SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year, after security forces did not allow them to march to Delhi to press for their various demands.