Traffic on Delhi-Chandigarh National Highway 44 was affected on Monday after farmers gathered in Haryana’s Kurukshetra and held a mahapanchayat to press their demand for Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sunflower seeds.

Traffic on the highway was diverted to avoid congestion.

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Nearly 50,000 farmers from Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, besides Haryana, gathered in Pipli town and gave an ultimatum to the government that if it doesn’t listen to their demands, a big call could be taken to block the national highway again or block the government Secretariat in Kurukshetra.

Among those present at the mahapanchayat was Olympic wrestler Bajrang Punia, who is one of the grapplers demanding action against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Extending his support to farmers, Punia said: “We have come here to support the farmers. Even we come from farmer families. We will stand with the farmers who are standing on the roads. We have supported farmers even during the farmers’ protest and we will keep supporting them.”

The sunflower growers are not happy with the relief announced on June 10 by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, saying it was an attempt to prevent the ‘mahapanchayat’ called by farm associations.

The farmers have been demanding that the state government procure their sunflower crop at an MSP of Rs 6,400 per quintal, as announced for the crop by the Central government for 2022-23.

Addressing the ‘mahapanchayat’, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said the government should release the farmer leaders who were arrested for blocking the national highway and ensure procurement at the MSP, or protests would be held across the country.

Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait, however, said that the farmers are not blocking the highway. “It is not right. Highways should not be blocked,” Tikait said.

“We have only two demands, release the farmers who were detained and start purchasing sunflower seeds at MSP. We are ready to hold discussions with the government,” Tikait said.

Farmers and their supporters from Punjab and Haryana came out on streets in large numbers on their tractors after the mahapanchayat this morning.

The protesting farmers from Haryana and neighbouring states of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh among others who had gathered at the Pipli grain market here claimed that the government was not buying sunflower seeds at the minimum support price. As a result, they were forced to sell their produce to private buyers at around Rs 4,000 per quintal against Rs 6,400 MSP.

The farmers demanded that the state government procure sunflower seeds at an MSP of Rs 6,400 per quintal.

Haryana farmers took to the streets near Shahabad on June 6 afternoon and blocked the Delhi-Chandigarh national highway demanding a MSP for sunflower seeds. The protest call was given by BKU (Charuni) chief Gurnam Singh Charuni.

Police said that with an aim to control the situation, police had used water cannons to disperse the protesters and baton-charged them.

The Kurukshetra Superintendent of Police had then said that an investigation against the people who took the law into their hands will be done.

“This is a National Highway. So the protest was blocking the way of many people. Following all the protocols, we asked them to leave. The situation is now peaceful whereas some people were detained. An investigation will be done against the people who took the law into their hands. We will take the necessary action,” the police said.

Kurukshetra district has the highest production of sunflower and its main procurement centre is Shahbad. Besides, the sunflower purchase centres have been set up in Ambala, Yamunanagar, Karnal, and Panchkula districts.