For more than a 100 days, farmers from various parts of the country have remained gathered at Delhi's borders protesting against three contentious laws. Multiple rounds of talks with the Centre has failed to break the deadlock, and it is unclear when the protests might cease. Now, the members of the Kisan Ekta Morcha have amped up their efforts, leading agitations in other parts of the country.
Weeks ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections, protesters have descended on the eastern state. They are not campaigning for any of the parties in the fray - they are simply calling for "no vote to BJP". The initiative in Bengal are being carried out by several groups associated with the farmers' protest and reports indicate that this is just one of many areas that they plan to agitate in.
"Our Farm Leaders to Start Campaigning Under the Slogan 'No Vote To BJP' for the appraoching Assembly Elections in West Bengal. We urge people to stand against the party who brought in the Anti-Farmer Laws," read a tweet on the Kisan Ekta Morcha's handle.
Visuals shared by the official handle of the protests show people gathered outside Victoria Memorial with posters or marching down major thoroughfares with banners and placards in hand.
Today's West Bengal rally is not the first that the farmers have organised recently. The Times of India reported recently that the Kirti Kisan Union had held a rally in the state recently. The Yogendra Yadav-led Swaraj India is part of today's rally, and according to an India Today report from Thursday, the Sanyukt Kisaan Morcha plans to hold four mahapanchayats over the upcoming weekend.
Apart from this, rallies are also being planned for parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Karnataka in the coming days. Farmers have also called for a Bharat Bandh on March 26th.
