Chennai: Expressing solidarity with the farmers in Delhi who had given call nationwide ‘chakka jam’, Tamil Nadu All Farmers’ Association coordination committee on Saturday warned that they would not allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enter Tamil Nadu if he does not permit farmers to enter Delhi and restore, water and electricity connection to the farmers who are agitating on Delhi border.
Modi is said to have agreed to visit the state later this month to inaugurate several projects and is also likely to address a poll rally.
Reacting over the Union government’s decision to ‘disconnect water and electricity supply’ to the farmers agitating against the three farm laws and leading the agitation in Tamil Nadu, the committee president P.R. Pandian told reporters, “If the Prime Minister does not permit the farmers to enter Delhi, the farmers of Tamil Nadu shall not allow him to visit the state.”
He also demanded that the ‘barbed wires’ and barricades must be removed immediately.
“This is high time PM Modi should stop harassing farmers who voted for him in the past,” he said.
Demanding the withdrawal of the three farm laws, he charged that Modi is working to protect the interests of the corporates rather than helping farmers.
“In his regime, corporates are running freely anywhere in the national Capital, but unfortunately the farmers are being barred from entering Delhi. This clearly shows that the BJP has scant respect for farmers,” he said.
He added that protests in Tamil Nadu are part of the pan India stir and is for seeking justice for farmers. “I am making it clear that this agitation was not for political gains or to cause any inconvenience to the general public,” he asserted.
While in Tiruchirappalli, the National South Indian Rivers Inter-Linking Farmers Association, president, P. Ayyakannu led a ‘plough’ rally seeking immediate repeal of farm laws.
Farmers’ organizations of the Cauvery delta towns of Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, and Tiruvarur also staged protests.
