Thousands of protesting farmers, who had marched from Haridwar to Delhi as part of the 10-day Kisan Kranti Padyatra, ended their march at the Kisan Ghat early on Wednesday as they were finally allowed to enter the national capital.

The Central government allowed them to enter Delhi in the early hours of Wednesday, ending the prolonged standoff between the police personnel and protesting farmers.

The farmers entered the national capital riding their tractors and trolleys and proceeded towards Kisan Ghat where heavy police deployment has been made, said the police.

Led by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) chief Naresh Tikait, over 400 tractors carrying thousands of farmers reached Kisan Ghat. Tikait declared it as the “victory of farmers” and said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had failed in its “motives”.

“The farmers remained unfazed despite all the hardships. We have been marching for 12 days now, farmers are tired as well. We will continue to demand our rights but for now we are ending the march,” Tikait told IANS at Kisan Ghat.

The farmers said they had reached an agreement with the Central government, which, according to them, had accepted “most of the demands”.

They said their prime demand of increasing the price of crops had been agreed upon by the government.

BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said a formal announcement in this regard would be made within six days by the government.

On Tuesday, thousands of farmers had marched towards Delhi over demands ranging from farm loan waiver to cut in fuel prices, blocking traffic movement on arterial roads leading to the national capital.

National highways leading to the capital were swamped with farmers who came in from places as far as Gonda, Basti and Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh as well as the sugarcane belt of western Uttar Pradesh.

Police picketed the border with Uttar Pradesh, imposing prohibitory orders banning assembly of five or more people and holding of any public meeting, usage of any amplifier, loudspeaker, and similar instruments.

The Kisan Kranti Yatra, which began from Tikait Ghat in Haridwar on September 23, was joined by farmers from various parts of Uttar Pradesh. They came on foot, in buses and tractor trolleys.

They carried banners of Bhartiya Kisan Union, which gave the call for the march to press for a series of demands.

Their list of demands include unconditional loan waiver for farmers, clearing of dues by sugar mills, higher prices for crops, free electricity for farms and a cut in diesel prices.

(With agency inputs)