Opposition MPs not allowed to reach Ghazipur protest site: Harsimrat

New Delhi, February 4

Fifteen MPs from 10 opposition parties, including the SAD, DMK, NCP and the Trinamool Congress, were stopped by police from reaching Ghazipur border on Thursday to meet farmers protesting against new farm laws, a SAD leader said.

According to SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal who coordinated the visit, the leaders were not allowed to cross the barricades and reach the protest site.

Besides Badal, Supriya Sule from NCP, Kanimozhi and Tiruchi Siva from the DMK, and Saugata Roy from the TMC were part of the delegation. Members of the National Conference, RSP and the IUML were also part of it.

During a discussion in Parliament on Wednesday, several opposition parties asked the government to withdraw the three farm laws without making it a prestige issue and not to treat the agitating farmers as "enemies".

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Stringent security continued at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, one of the key protest sites where thousands of farmers are camping with a demand that the Centre repeal the new agri-marketing laws enacted last September.

The protesting farmers have expressed the apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporates.

However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture. PTI