After Bhatta Parsaul in western Uttar Pradesh, it is now Chandauli in eastern UP that is facing the heat over land acquisition.
Over 1,500 farmers, with women leading from the front, are staging a dharna in Chandauli district to protest against land acquisition for the proposed New Kashi city project.
What initially started as a demonstration for better remuneration for their land four days ago has now turned into a protest against land acquisition.
“We have now decided we will not give up our land, no matter what price is offered to us. This is now a do-or-die battle for us. We will either retain our land or immolate ourselves in protest,” said Chandrika Devi, one of the protesters.
The farmers in Chandauli have stacked up huge heaps of wood which, they claim, will serve as their pyre if the Uttar Pradesh state government does not take back its decision to acquire their land.
The farmers have given the state government time till June 1.
“We want a written assurance from the state government that our land will not be acquired. Unless we get this assurance in writing, the protest will continue,” said Ashok Kumar Kol, another farmer.
Two government employees, including a sub-divisional magistrate, who had gone to talk to the protesting farmers on Saturday, were forcibly made to sit on dharna for several hours. The two were later allowed to go home.
Meanwhile, there was no word from the state government on the Chandauli agitation on Sunday since all top government officers were away in Chandigarh with chief minister Mayawati who had gone there to address a party meeting.
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Book blames Indira for Cong position in UP
New Delhi, May 29: A book on Congress has blamed former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for the damage to its electoral base in Hindi heartland, particularly UP, where Rahul Gan-dhi is now trying to rebuild the party ahead of the Assembly polls next year.
“She (Gandhi) attempted to reach down to the bottom level and restructure the party from the top into an ‘oligarchy’ controlled with the help of her close aides. This led to the breakdown of the ‘machine’ character of Congress, which had been the strength of the party in some states,” the fifth volume of the series A Centenary History of the Indian National Congress said. —PTI