Govt should consider demands of protesting farmers: BSP

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Sudhindra Bhadoria on Saturday claimed that the farmers are reeling under poverty and that the government must fulfill their demand in order to uplift them.

The statement from Bhadoria came just hours after scores of agitated farmers started a march towards Delhi on Saturday morning under the umbrella of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (Indian Farmers' Organisation) to raise various farming-related demands.

"Farmers of this country are in deep financial crisis and their income from the agricultural produce are low, making it difficult for them to survive in this sector. The government representatives must meet the farmers who are protesting near Uttar Pradesh-Delhi borders and fulfill their demands to resolve the issues," he said while speaking to ANI in New Delhi.

The BSP leader also questioned the central government's move of reducing corporate tax to fire up the economy saying, "If the Government of India can give relief to corporate sector then why don't they fulfill the small demands of the farmers? Farmers are 'anna datta' and if the government will ignore their demands, then how will they survive in remote areas?"

In the wake of the protests, barricades have been put across the roads in a bid to beef up security at East Delhi's Ghazipur border to stop the agitating farmers from reaching the national capital from adjoining Uttar Pradesh.

Farmers, mainly from western parts of Uttar Pradesh, gathered at the Ghazipur border as they planned to hold the march up to Kisan Ghat, the memorial of renowned farmer-leader Chaudhary Charan Singh, which is located in heart of the national capital.

The farmers are holding the march to put forth their demands of payment of sugarcane crop dues, full loan waivers and making electricity used in farming free, amongst other things.