Tensions are running high in Punjab as the ruling AAP government and farmer unions locked horns in a growing political standoff ahead of the ‘Chandigarh Chalo’ protests organised by the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on March 5.
A day after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann walked out of a SKM meeting, farmer leaders on Tuesday said that the state police detained several protesters in a midnight raid ahead of their planned demonstrations in Chandigarh. The SKM is an umbrella group of 37 farmers’ unions.
Confirming the incident, Mann told reporters that he walked out of the meeting when SKM leaders mentioned plans to protest from March 5 onwards.
“Yes, I left the meeting, and we will detain them as well…Won’t allow farmers to sit on tracks and roads,” Mann said.
Mann further revealed that he had asked farmers to call off the strikes, stating that the state could not be held to ransom.
“I told farmers that every day you hold ‘rail roko’, ‘sadak roko’ protest…This is causing immense losses to Punjab. The state is facing economic losses. Punjab is becoming a state of ‘dharna’. Don’t take my soft-heartedness into thinking that I do not take action,” Mann said.
Shedding light on why he stormed out “without provocation”, Mann said that he had told the farmers that meeting and ‘morcha’ can’t go hand in hand.