Farmers Movement Archive

SP protests against farm lawsquelled, leaders detained

Varanasi: In a bid to take out ‘Kisan Yatras’ in solidarity with farmers protesting new farm laws, a large number of Samajwadi Party (SP)leaders came on roads on Monday and many of them were arrested in east UP districts, including Mau and Ghazipur on Monday. The SP could not stage any major protest against the new farm laws in Varanasi as most of the party senior leaders, including former minister Surendra Patel, his brother and former MLA Mahendra Patel were not allowed by the police to come out of their residences. Scores of SP workers led by district unit chief Sujit Yadav Lakkad and Shalini Yadav gathered at Shastri Ghat and submitted a memorandum to the district administration. Superintendent of police (City) Vikas Chandra Tripathi said that no procession or demonstration took place in the district. In Ghazipur, former SP minister Om Prakash Singh, MLA Virendra Yadav, district unit chief Ramdhari Yadav and dozens of workers were arrested and sent to police lines from Lanka ground. The party leaders had gathered to march towards collectorate. When they tried to come out of Lanka ground, police stopped them when a scuffle took place. Situation normalised following intervention of senior officials after which they were arrested and sent to police lines. Scores of SP leaders and workers staged a sit-in on the road in front of Lohia Trust campus in Mirzapur. They were later removed from the road by police. Around 40 SP leaders and workers led by party spokesman Rajiv Rai were also arrested while making bid to carry out a procession in the name of Kisan Yatra.

The Times of India

2020-12-15

Varanasi