After a short meeting with officers of Delhi Police on Sunday, the protesting farmers have got a formal permission to hold a tractor rally on Republic Day against the Centre's three contentious farm laws, said Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav.
"Today there was a short meeting with officers of Delhi Police. We have got formal permission from Police for the tractor rally. As I told earlier, 'Kisan Gantantra Parade' will be held on January 26 in a peaceful manner," news agency ANI quoted Yogendra Yadav as saying.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday said around 25,000 tractors from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand will participate in the 'kisan parade' in the national capital on Republic Day.
"Around 25,000 tractors would arrive here and a tractor rally would be brought out on Republic Day. Apart from the districts of western Uttar Pradesh, farmers would take out rallies in every district," Tikait said. "No political person will be allowed to participate," the BKU national spokesperson added.
Joginder Singh, the farmer leader of Punjab's Malwa region and President of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta (Ugrahan), said more farmers were marching towards Delhi along with their tractors from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and other provinces of the country to take part in the tractor rally.
"Volunteers have been assigned specific works for the farmers' parade", he said, adding that more than one lakh tractors were ready to take part in the parade, and women too would march to Delhi in open trolleys.
Punjab farmer leader and General Secretary of the BKU, Parminder Singh Pal Majra, said lakhs of farmers would participate in the rally. He informed that this rally would take place within a radius of 100 km in the NCR.
The farmer unions have clearly said they would carry out the tractor rally in a peaceful manner.
The farmers have been demanding a repeal of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020, implemented by the Central government last year as well as the legal guarantee for the procurement of crops at the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
The farmers have been sitting on protest at the Delhi borders since November 26 last year.
(With IANS inputs)
