Hoping to make themselves heard in the power centre of the nation, thousands of farmers from across the country began converging here on Thursday for a two-day march to press for their demands, including debt relief and remunerative prices for their produce.
The farmers, who will march to Ramlila Ground on Thursday and to Parliament Street on Friday, came from different corners of the country, including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.
They will march to Ramlila Ground on four different routes starting at the Anand Vihar, Nizamuddin and Bijwasan railway stations and at Sabzi Mandi, their leaders said.
Though many came in trains, those from Delhi and nearby Punjab and Haryana started collecting around 10.30 am.
The marchers will gather at Ramlila Ground in the heart of the city by evening, farmer organisations said, expecting a crowd of about one lakh.
Kamla, a functionary of the All India Kisan Sabha's Delhi unit, said farmers from nearby areas converged at Majnu Ka Tila on the outskirts of Delhi from where they will start marching in groups to Ramlila Maidan.
"We hope by 3 pm, farmers from across the country will arrive at Ramlila Ground," she said.
The two-day rally will be one of the largest congregations of farmers in Delhi, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) claimed on Wednesday.
The AIKSCC, which claims to be an umbrella body of 207 organisations of farmers and agricultural workers, said a cultural programme would be held at Ramlila Ground on Thursday where prominent singers and poets from rural India would perform.
The AIKSCC was formed under the aegis of All India Kisan Sabha and other Left affiliated farmers' bodies in June 2017, after protests by farmers in states like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh for debt relief and remunerative prices
Police said they have made elaborate arrangements for the rally on Friday, when the farmers will begin their march from Ramlila Ground to Parliament Street.
The farmers threw traffic out of gear in many parts of the city.
Support for the farmers poured in with activists taking to Twitter to ask the general public to join the march.
"Women farmers greet us this morning from Bijwasan as they are all set to embark on #KisanMuktiMarch. Join us even if you are not a farmer. Join the hands that toil to feed us. Jai Kisan!," tweeted political activist Yogendra Yadav.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan also tweeted in solidarity with farmers.
"Over 3L farmers have committed suicide in India in last 15 yrs,due to successive govts betraying them. Tomorrow 1 lakh farmers from across the country are marching to Delhi to ask for fair prices & freedom from debt. Let's stand in solidarity with them," he said.
Jamun Thakur, a farmer from Parri village of Bihar's Darbhanga district, said he arrived in the city at 8 am Thursday with over 2,000 farmers mostly associated with AIKS. They started their journey on the Bihar Samprakranti Express on Wednesday morning.
"We grow paddy and maize. But over the years, we have been facing losses due flood and drought like situation. We demand that the government must do something for us. The Nitish Kumar government has done nothing for us. We had hopes from the Modi government but he too betrayed us," said Thakur.
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