(KSS) in the state on Wednesday, received response mainly in districts
of Western Uttar Pradesh like Aligarh, Mathura, Agra, Ghaziabad and
Gautam Buddha Nagar.
Manvir Singh Teotia, who is heading the KSS, has rushed to New Delhi
to meet the Prime Minister. The AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi may
be present at the meeting, said sources.
In Etmadpur area of Agra, farmers clashed with the police, pelted
stones and set afire a few vehicles. The police fired rubber bullets and
lobbed teargas shells to disperse the mob. In some districts, the
farmers also blocked road and rail traffic.
Both Congress and the BJP had extended support to the bandh. The KSS
is spearheading the farmers’ agitation, demanding higher compensation
for their land acquired for the Yamuna Expressway project.
While BJP state president Surya Prasad Shahi, along with party
supporters were arrested near the party office in Lucknow, the All India
Congress Committee’s General secretary Digvijay Singh, who is also
in-charge of UP Congress and the UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi
participated in the farmers’ demonstration held in Dadri.
In Agra, farmers blocked the road near Chhaleshar-Kuberpur village on
NH-2. By the time the police reached the spot, they had set afire a
state roadways bus. “They also tried to set afire a ‘dumper’ vehicle,
but the driver managed to escape,” said DIG Dipesh Juneja from Agra.
The farmers, he said brickbatted the police party.
“There was a railway track close to the blockade site and stones were
available,” he said. The police chased them and got the blockade
cleared. Denying that rubber bullets were used, Juneja said: “We used
teargas shells.”
Farmers blocked the road at different points on Aligarh-Palwal road,
besides in different areas of Khair Tehsil. Although Aligarh remains
epicenter of the farmers’ agitation following the August 14 clash,
Wednesday’s protest passed off peacefully. “The farmers also blocked the
road near Tappal, where they continue their dharna programme under the
banner KSS. Later in the evening, the traffic movement was restored near
Tappal,” said a source in Aligarh.
The other points where farmers blocked the road included Sofa Nahar
and Jattari villages. In Aligarh town, Congress supporters stopped the
Lichchavi Express for a few minutes.
Supporters of Bhartiya Janata Yuwa Morcha, the youth wing of BJP,
stopped a passenger train at Mathura Railway Junction. Later, they
handed over a memorandum to the authorities in support of the farmers’
demand. The BJP workers also tried to enforce the bandh at the Mathura
market. The Congress workers, led by legislator Pradeep Mathur, also
made an attempt to block Mathura-Delhi Highway. The administration,
however, stopped him from doing so.