Cong to launch parallel stir for farmers today

Bathinda, October 4
The farmers’ agitation over the failed cotton crop and inadequate compensation will assume political colour with Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president, Partap Singh Bajwa, starting a three-day programme in Malwa tomorrow.
The tour will run separate from the ongoing indefinite agitation by eight farmer unions here for the past 17 days as the farmers have not allowed political leaders to “bake their bread on flame of farmer woes”.
Both stirs will be making the same demand — enhanced rates for per acre loss.
Congress leaders have been alleging that the ongoing farmer agitation had failed to ruffle any feathers in the government because many farmers, among them, “enjoy government support”.
Farmer unions denied the allegations saying, “If we were with the government, our leaders would not have had fake cases filed against them including 42 against Shingara Singh Mann, leader of the BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan), 31 against state president Boota Singh Burj-Gill besides Manjit Dhanes, Surjit Phull, Ruldu Singh and many others”.
Shingara Mann said, “We are not against Congress leaders. We only have not allowed them to come and take over the stage purely for their political benefit. We also did not allow AAP leader Dharamvira Gandhi despite his association with us or even crowd-puller Bhagwant Mann.
“During the Congress regime also, farmers got poor compensation and mistreatment. Now they are coming here just to lure potential voters for the 2017 Assembly elections,” he said.
Youth Congress president Raja Warring said, “The unions in Bathinda are purposely not allowing us to get on the stage. They fear that the focus will shift from them. I met them personally. They want us to sit on the backbenches. Are we not farmers? Ravneet Bittu, Partap Bajwa and I all come from a farming background and know the pain of the farmers. We came to stand with them and to speak for them.”
Warring said, “We will gherao the house of Agriculture Minister Tota Singh as our next step. Our agitation will continue till farmers get justice.”
The united farmer forum has launched dharnas in 19 districts, including Jalandhar, Amritsar, Mansa, Patiala, Gurdaspur, Barnala, Patiala, Muktsar, Moga and Faridkot, from October 1. The farmers are demanding compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre and Rs 20,000 per family for farm labourers.
NH-15 blocked
Tarn Taran: Workers of eight farmer organisations blocked the National Highway Number 15 by staging a dharna near the Bath Crossing on Saturday. Sawinder Singh Chutala and other leaders, while addressing the protesters, condemned the Union and the state governments for ignoring the interests of the farmers. The leaders said that despite the tall claims of the government, the procurement agencies had not started the procurement of 1509 basmati in the grain markets.