Candidates of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) experienced difficulties during the election campaign in the elections to the lower house of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) in the agricultural state of Punjab, Hindustan Times reported on April 26.
The BJP has so far fielded candidates for nine of the 13 seats in Punjab, where the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections will be held on June 1. The farmers’ union Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is leading the farmers’ protest at the border points of the state, has asked that BJP candidates be kept away from polling stations, especially in rural areas.
According to the publication, in the last 15 days, BJP candidates in Punjab have faced at least 40 protests from various farmer groups. Farmers not only raise anti-party slogans and display black flags, but in some cases they are also persecuted and prevented from moving.
Notably, Hans Raj Hans, a sitting Member of Parliament from North West Delhi, was stopped by farmers while he was on his way to the protest venue. After the intervention of a large police force, 25 people were arrested.
Additionally, at least 10 rallies were disrupted by protesting farmers in Amritsar, where the BJP has fielded former bureaucrat Taranjit Singh Sandhu. In one such incident, a clash broke out between a group of protesters and BJP members when the former attempted to disrupt a party event.
The publication notes that the police have beefed up security for BJP candidates. Meanwhile, the party has described the farmers’ protests as motivated, and many of its top leaders have admitted that the protests could affect the outcome of the elections in the rural hinterland.
One of the leaders of the farmers’ organizations told the publication that this is a kind of revenge of the BJP by the farmers: “They did not allow farmers to enter Delhi and now we will not allow them to enter our village.”.
Let us remember that farmers protests called “Dili Chalo” have been taking place in India since mid-February. The farmers marched from Punjab to Delhi to convey their demands to the government, but were stopped by security forces at the Haryana border and are still there.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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