Farmers Movement Archive

Tractor rally: Delhi Police put three alternative routes on table

NEW DELHI: Three alternative routes for the proposed tractor rally on January 26 were reportedly discussed in a meeting between Delhi Police and farmers on Friday evening, sources said. Police have requested the farmers to shift their rally to the extended Ring Road. The farmers are expected to revert to police by Saturday. The meeting was held between farmer leaders and top brass of Delhi Police, including two special commissioners. However, a source present in the meeting said police commissioner SN Shrivastava also walked in, taking both sides by surprise. Shrivastava, who himself comes from a rural background, reportedly ditched his car at the barricades and took a lift from a tractor to reach the meeting venue, a gesture appreciated by the farmers. An officer privy to developments said Delhi Police stayed firm on its request to not carry out the tractor rally on the route decided by the farmers given the security implications. “The farmers were briefed on how the movement and security of the dignitaries would be impacted due to the rally on Ring Road as multiple routes, including the contingency route, have been put in place as part of the security apparatus,” said the district-level officer. Delhi Police offered the extended Ring Road, which could be accessed by farmers protesting at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders. While one route passes through outer Delhi, the other goes from Ghazipur to Apsara border, which are quite populous areas,” said the source. The tractor rally is a major point of contention between police and intelligence agencies and the farmers with the latter being adamant on going ahead with it. Earlier, Supreme Court had lobbed the ball into the court of Delhi Police when the Centre had sought a direction to stop the rally. The court told the Centre that maintaining law and order was exclusively in the domain of Delhi Police and the constitutional court could not be the authority to deal with situations that could arise from the tractor march.

The Times of India

2021-01-23

Delhi