 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including former Haryana minister Manish Grover, were held up inside a temple complex in Rohtak district's Kiloi for hours on Friday as several villagers and farmers staged a protest outside.
According to a police official, the incident occurred when Grover along with the local BJP leaders reached the temple complex as part of their plan to watch from there the live telecast of Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiling a statue of Adi Shankaracharya at the seer's rebuilt samadhi in Kedarnath.
The demonstrators allowed the leaders to leave the temple complex only in the evening after the district administration and police officials pacified them.
"The protest has ended and the BJP leaders have left the temple complex," Rohtak's Deputy Superintendent of Police Sajjan Singh said.
Earlier in the day, when the villagers and farmers came to know that the BJP leaders were at the temple complex, they cordoned the site preventing the BJP leaders from coming out.
Some reports had claimed that the protesters were demanding that Grover should apologise to the farmers over some issue.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Sajjan Singh said the opposition of demonstrators was to the presence of BJP leaders in Kiloi.
Senior officials of the district administration and police of Rohtak and some from neighbouring districts were at the site throughout the day to prevent escalation of the situation.
Farmers protesting the Centre's three farm laws enacted last year have been opposing programmes of leaders of Haryana's ruling BJP and Jannayak Janta Party.
Hundreds of farmers are encamped at Delhi borders since November last year demanding that the government repeal the three agri laws -- Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
They claim that these laws will leave them at the mercy of corporates.
They are also demanding a new law to guarantee the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.
The Centre, which has held 11 rounds of talks with farmers to break the deadlock, has maintained that the new laws are pro-farmer.
*****
Windshield of BJP MP's car smashed during farmers' protest in Haryana
The windshield of Bharatiya Janata Party MP Ram Chander Jangra's car was smashed after some miscreants allegedly threw lathis on the vehicle during a protest by farmers over his visit to Haryana's Hisar district on Friday.
However, no one was hurt in the incident that the minister described as 'a clear murder attempt'.
A group of protesters carrying black flags blocked Jangra's route in Hisar's Narnaund, according to police.
Later, the road was cleared, allowing the Rajya Sabha MP to proceed, the police said.
Jangra said police officials informed him that two people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
"After concluding my programme, I was on my way to attend another function when some miscreants threw lathis on my car, leaving it damaged. No one was hurt," Jangra told reporters.
He was sitting in the back seat of the car.
"I spoke to Haryana DGP and the SP regarding this incident. I have demanded strict punishment as per law against the culprits. This is a clear murder attempt," the MP said.
"I was going to attend two more programmes in Narwana and Uchana. As my car was damaged, I had to cancel the visits," Jangra said.
"I was attending a social function. It was not a political function. Will they (farmers) oppose social functions too?" he asked.