Chandigarh:

Former Indian ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu will make his debut in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket from Amritsar. However, when he visited two villages in Amritsar district for campaigning, his convoy was met with protests by farmers. Farmers lined the streets as Sandhu’s convoy passed by, holding black flags and raising slogans against him.

“Democracy allows everyone to have freedom of expression. The same democracy that allows them to protest also allows me to run my campaign. We have plans to increase farmers’ income,” Mr Sandhu said of the protests.

Protests against his road show took place in Gangomahal and Kallomahal villages of Ajnala tehsil.

As part of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s call to protest against the Centre’s now-repeated farm laws, farmers decided to protest against the BJP leaders in Punjab villages.

“The BJP wants to return to power and is now going out to campaign. We will not allow them to campaign in our villages and will oppose them with all our might,” said a farmer.

Taranjit Singh Sandhu retired as India’s envoy to the United States on February 1. He joined the BJP on March 20 and ten days later, he was on the party’s list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.

North-west Delhi MP and popular singer Hans Raj Hans, who also faced farmers’ protests recently, was fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party to contest the Faridkot polls.

The decision to go against the BJP was taken during the Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat meeting held at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi.

Thousands of farmers attended a mahapanchayat on March 14, where a resolution was passed to intensify their protest against the central agriculture department’s policies.

One of the many demands raised by farmers is to seek legal guarantee of minimum support price for all crops, as well as farm loan waiver, as per the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee.

The ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, spearheaded by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, started on February 13 but was blocked from entering the national capital by security forces, leading to multiple points of conflict at Haryana borders.