Lagatar24 Desk
Rohtak, Nov.5: Several BJP leaders who went to a Haryana temple to witness Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s live transmission from Kedarnath shrine were besieged by farmers who have been protesting three agricultural laws for nearly a year.
For the past six hours, protesters have held BJP leaders, including former minister Manish Grover, hostage while police attempted to break the farmers’ tight cordon. The demonstrators asked that Mr Grover apologise for using derogatory words against farmers. Mr Grover has been given a half-hour to apologise for his statements, according to the farmers.
More troops from neighbouring districts have been brought in to calm the situation at the temple in Kiloi village, Rohtak district, around 78 kilometres from Gurgaon, according to the police. Two demonstrators were detained. For the time being, the Delhi-Hisar National Highway is closed to traffic.
Party organisation minister Ravindra Raju, Mayor Manmohan Goyal, BJP district president Ajay Bansal, and party leader Satish Nandal are among the other leaders being held captive within the shrine.
Meanwhile, the farmers have requested that the throng encircle the temple on all sides. Police officers from Sonipat and Jhajjar have also arrived in the area, according to sources, and have been warned to be prepared to deal with any crisis.
Farmers from Haryana and Punjab, in particular, have been protesting the agricultural regulations, claiming that they will hand over control of agriculture to commercial interests. The government has refuted the charge and even promised to change the legislation.
Since the BJP is also in power at the centre, which passed the new laws, BJP politicians who have been in and around locations where large groups of protesting farmers have gathered have become targets.
When BJP Rajya Sabha member Ram Chander Jangra came to inaugurate a dharmshala in Haryana’s Hisar district today, he was met with chants and black flags by a group of farmers (inn). During a struggle between cops and farmers, his car’s glass was damaged.
