CHANDIGARH: Punjab Congress leader Navjot Sidhu has been detained after he led a protest in Chandigarh against the death of eight persons, including four farmers, in Sunday’s violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government denied permission to Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to visit the violence-hit district in Uttar Pradesh.
The Punjab government had today urged the Uttar Pradesh government to allow Mr Channi s chopper to land so that he can visit Lakhimpur Kheri. Earlier, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa too was denied permission to land at the Lucknow airport.
Sidhu led a protest by Congress workers outside the residence of the Punjab Governor in Chandigarh, raising slogans against the centre over the new farm laws. He also demanded the arrest of Union Minister of State Ajay Kumar Mishra s son for allegedly running a car over protesting farmers.
In India’s longest-running agricultural protest, tens of thousands of farmers have camped for months on major highways to New Delhi to oppose the three laws. They say the legislation will erode a longstanding mechanism that gives farmers a minimum guaranteed price for their rice and wheat.
The government says the laws will help growers get better prices.
The protests have gained momentum in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the state assembly election next year, with a group of influential farmer leaders ratchet up pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Mode’s government to roll back the laws.
