Patiala turns into fortress ahead of PM Modi’s visit as farmers protest at entry points

Those arriving for the rally are directed to designated parking areas and required to walk at least one kilometre to the venue. A heavy police presence is also stationed at all the entry points.

In Patiala, Modi will campaign for the BJP candidate and four-time MP Preneet Kaur, the wife of former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh. On Friday, Modi will address election rallies in Gurdaspur and Jalandhar. All 13 seats of Punjab will go to polls in June in the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024.

VIDEO | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: PM Modi felicitated at a public rally in Patiala. #LSPolls2024WithPTI #LokSabhaElections2024 pic.twitter.com/YFTpVM9AnK

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 23, 2024

Why are farmers protesting

Farmers affiliated with different farm unions are displeased with the BJP-led Centre for not meeting their various demands, including a law on minimum support price (MSP) for their crops. They are also frustrated about being prevented from heading towards Delhi, forcing them to set up camp at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points of Punjab and Haryana.

The farmer unions gave a call to protest at five entry points to Patiala at Phaggan Majra on Sirhind Road, Asarpur Chupki at Patran Road, Gurdwaras Parmeshar Dwar Sangrur Road , Rakhra Mandaur at Nabha Road, Khaasian at Pehowa Road.

Some farmers gathered at the Dhareri Jattan toll plaza on Thursday morning and said they would protest without disrupting the rally. Swarn Singh Dhareri of Bharti Kisan Union (Sidhupur) mentioned that the union advised them not to proceed if the police intervened. “We have stopped here. We will not move forward. We just want to lodge our protest. That is all,” he said.

The farmers, however, prevented buses carrying BJP leader Jagdish Jagga and his supporters from entering PM Modi’s Patiala rally venue. “We will not allow them,” he said.

Darshan Singh, another farmer activist from Sidhupur, said they came in the morning. “We will stay put here but not allow BJP leaders to take their supporters forward,” he said as the farmers raised slogans against Modi at the toll plaza.

Meanwhile, the farmers called by SKM (non-political) began moving from the Shambhu border to Patiala around Thursday noon.

This is not the first time PM Modi has faced the ire of farmers during a Punjab visit. In 2022, the Modi’s convoy was delayed due to a farmers’ protest on a flyover near Ferozepur. Due to the blockade, Modi had to cancel plans to address a BJP rally ahead of the Assembly polls.