AAP-holding Farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ Protest to Fight ED Pressure? What Intel Sources Say | Exclusive

To negotiate the pressure from the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) cases, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leadership has provoked farmers from Punjab to protest against the government, according to top intelligence sources.

Farmers from Punjab and Delhi started a ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest march on Tuesday to demand a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP), one of the conditions they had set when they agreed to withdraw their agitation against the now-repealed farm laws in 2021. The AAP governments in Punjab and Delhi were seen to be standing firmly with the farmers, as they clashed with police along the Shambhu-Ambala border on the common boundaries of Haryana and Punjab. The ED is carrying out investigation against several AAP leaders and has even issued six summons to its chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

“Farmers are unreasonable at the time of meetings and want on-the-spot decisions. Yesterday, they threatened to move towards Delhi if they didn’t get a nod for implementation of the old pension scheme immediately. They only want a yes and are not looking at mutual agreement. While most of their demands were accepted, a few things such as pension after 58 years can’t be decided on the spot,” sources said, adding that the government is clear that “they should not be allowed to move to Delhi”. “They have made preparations for it.”

Intelligence sources said they are also looking into foreign funding. “We have found nothing so far… We can’t rule out support from Khalistani groups at some stage.”

The AAP is forcing them to move out of Punjab as soon as possible, because they are worried about these farmer unions. “The farmer unions of Punjab are aggressive and stop work of every government,” they said.

THE SUPPORT

News18 had reported on Tuesday how Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, acting as a mediator, tried to resolve the brewing standoff by organising a meeting between the ministers of the central government and farmers’ unions in which he also participated during the first round of discussions. The Punjab CM, however, was not present when talks between the union ministers and farmers’ unions happened on Monday. In Delhi, the AAP government turned down a proposal from the Delhi police to turn Bawana stadium into a temporary jail in view of the protests. Mann also allowed a free passage to the farmers as they moved towards Delhi. Just a couple of days before the protest, Mann also hit out against his Haryana counterpart, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, accusing him of “creating a border between Punjab and India”.

WHAT HAPPENED ON WEDNESDAY?

The Haryana Police lobbed tear gas shells at farmers from Punjab at Shambhu border between the two states as thousands of protesters stayed put there on the second day of their march. There was a similar standoff at Data Singhwala-Khanauri border in Haryana’s Jind district, with Haryana Police barricades stopping farmers from travelling to Delhi on their tractor-trolleys.

With the farmers from several places in Punjab continuing to pour in at the Shambhu border, a large number of tractor-trolleys could be seen parked along the national highway on the Punjab side.

On Tuesday, the first day of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation, there were several clashes between protesters and policemen at the borders. The stir led to massive traffic snarls in Delhi.

With PTI Inputs