Farm bills won't be implemented in Maharashtra, says Ajit Pawar

• Over two dozen farmer organisations have announced support for the 'Bandh call' on Friday to protest against the Farm Bills
• The Congress, which is protesting against the Farm Bills passed by the Parliament, has chalked out a detailed programme of agitation.
• The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), an ally of the BJP-led NDA government, announced a statewide 'chakka jam' to mark their protest.

The three farmer' bill and labour reform bill will not be implemented in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Panwar on September 25 said This comes as hundreds of farmers across the country began their nationwide strike against the Modi government’s three farm bills passed during the Monsoon session. Over two dozen farmer organisations have announced support for the 'Bandh call' on Friday to protest against the Farm Bills passed by Parliament amid protests by 18 political parties. The 31 farmer organisations in Punjab and Haryana are already protesting.

Delhi Police are on high alert and have made preparations to seal the border with Haryana.

The Congress, which is also protesting against the Farm Bills passed by the Parliament, has chalked out a detailed programme of agitation, which will begin on September 26 with an online "Speak up for Farmers" campaign.

The Congress has decided to take out marches in every state, after which memorandums will be submitted to the respective governors on September 28 against these farm bills.

Punjab and Haryana at the centre of farmer’s protest

As many as 31 farmer organisations have joined hands for the 'Punjab Bandh'. Several organisations in Haryana, including the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), said they had extended support to the nationwide strike called by some farmers' bodies against the bills.

Farmers in Punjab and Haryana will go on a strike today in protest against the contentious farm bills that were passed in the Parliament. Heavy police force has been deployed in both states to deal with any untoward situation.

Even shopkeepers in most of the major towns in both the states shut their shops, expressing solidarity with the farmers.

In Punjab, several trains have been suspended since September 24 as farmers began a three-day 'rail roko' campaign against the Bills.

On September 24, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said he is ready to lead the political fight against the three anti-farmer bills passed in Parliament. The chief minister urged all political parties to rise above petty considerations and come on one platform to unitedly fight against the bills, which he said will destroy farmers.

His remarks come a day ahead of the Punjab bandh announced by several farmer groups against the bills. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), an ally of the BJP-led NDA government, announced a statewide 'chakka jam' to mark their protest.

The SAD has been a longstanding ally of the ruling BJP. SAD's Lok Sabha MP and Sukhbir Badal's wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal, had resigned from the Union Cabinet on September 17, citing her party's opposition to the three Bills.

In Tamil Nadu, members of some farmer organisations protested in Trichy and Tambaram on Friday morning. Led by Tamil Nadu Farmers' Association President P Ayyakannu, half-clad farmers held their protest outside the Collectorate in Trichy while carrying human skulls in their hands. They demanded that the Bills should not be made into law.

Whereas, in Karnataka, members of the Karnataka State Farmers' Association on Friday held protests at various places against the three farm Bills passed in Parliament, which however has elicited a lukewarm response so far.

Although the farmers begun a blockade since morning to register their protests at highways entry points in Bengaluru, it received a lukewarm response as vehicular movement in CBD areas was not affected much.

Parliament has passed three farm reform bills -- the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill -- in the Monsoon Session.

(with inputs from IANS)
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