Bhubaneswar: On the day when four LS constituencies and 28 Assembly constituencies of the state went to polls, the farmers body— Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan (NNKS)— continued their protest in the capital city Thursday demanding scrapping of elections till their demands were fulfilled. The farmers outfit has been demanding price, prestige and pension for all farmers in the state which include Rs 2,930 minimum support price (MSP) for paddy and Rs 5,000 monthly pension. During their protest at Lower PMG, the police detained 26 protesting farmers.
Umakanta Bharat, state coordinator of the Sangathan, said, “Farmers’ protests do not bring any concrete results and neither the state government nor the Centre pay heed to any of our demands. So, we want a complete boycott of the elections because no political party wants to champion the cause of the farmers. We will continue our protest for complete boycott of elections in other districts as well.”
Earlier, farmers under the aegis of Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan, gheraoed the Chief Electoral Officer demanding for their rights, Wednesday. The agitators, led by NNKS president Akshya Kumar, tried to stage protest in front of the CEO’s office while some engaged in a brief scuffle with the police. Around 60 agitating farmers were also detained by the police during their march towards the CEO’s office.
Kumar said that there is no justification in accepting people’s view for a day and neglecting them for the next five years. The outfit had sought permission from the CEO to take out a rally across Odisha this month to encourage people to boycott elections.
Ahead of general elections, the farmers’ body had decided to take out rallies in Odisha from April 2 to April 22 under which they will stage non-violent protests during the general elections.