Polling peaceful in 3 seats, sporadic reports of booth jamming, EVM malfunction
Barring stray incidents, the second phase of polling to three Lok Sabha constituencies went off peacefully, today.
Expressing resentment over non fulfillment of farmers’ demands, the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha will corner the ruling BJP in Himachal Pradesh bypolls to the Mandi Lok Sabha seat and assembly segments of Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal Kotkhai.
Talking to media, Sanyukt Kisan Morcha convener Harish Chauhan said they will seek response from the government on issues concerning farmers in the state in the ongoing bypolls and will seek adequate compensation to affected persons under Land Acquisition Act.
“The farmers’ body will seek setting up of mandis for procurement of paddy, wheat and maize in the state on MSP and further strengthen the support for protests against three farm laws,” he added.
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Chauhan stated that the farmers’ body had submitted demand charter to the state government in the months of August and September but no action had been taken to fulfill these.
“APMC Act should be implemented strictly in the state and there should be an open auction of crops to stop exploitation of farmers.
In addition, the state government should put brakes on illegal recovery of dues from farmers in the markets across the state be it arbitrary labour charge or any other dues and immediate relief should be provided to farmers for loss to crops in hailstorms,” he said.
He demanded clearance of pending dues of horticulturalists and said all pending dues should be cleared immediately and the farmers should get prices of their produce the same day.
Besides, strict action should be taken against those traders or commission agents who hadn’t cleared pending dues of the farmers of the state, he stated.
He urged the state government to restore subsidies on fungicides and pesticides in the state and added that the government should also immediately release the pending subsidy for agricultural equipment.
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