Kisan rally to continue near Delhi despite Rajnath's assurance; schools to be shut in Ghaziabad tomorrow

Though Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said the demands will be considered, the farmers, who had clashed with police at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border on Tuesday, will continue their protests.

Nearly 50,000 farmers, led by Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait, marched from Haridwar to New Delhi with the demands which include loans waivers, clearance of pending sugarcane payments and raising the minimum support prices.  

Tikait told Hindustan Times that farmers will not accept government assurance and will go ahead with the protest. 

Meanwhile all schools will remain shut in Ghaziabad on Wednesday.

Farmers stopped at Delhi-UP border (Image: Screen grab from ABP News)

According to media reports, the police used water cannons and batons to disperse the farmers.

The farmers are also demanding free electricity for running tubewells, Hindustan Times reported.

Anticipating law and order problems which might take place, Delhi police had imposed prohibitory orders in the areas which border Uttar Pradesh.

Reacting strongly to police's attempt to stop several thousands of farmers from entering the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said the peasants can't be denied an entry to the city, which is for all.

Following the incident, Kejriwal took to Twitter to say in Hindi, "दिल्ली सबकी है। किसानों को दिल्ली में आने से नहीं रोका जा सकता। किसानों की माँगे जायज़ हैं। उनकी माँगें मानी जायें। (Delhi is for all. Can't stop farmers from entering Delhi. The farmers' demands are justifiable. Their demands must be fulfilled."

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government, saying even the peasants cannot express their anguish in the country now.

"On International Day of Non-Violence, the BJP's two-year Gandhi Jayanti celebrations began with the brutal beating of farmers peacefully coming to Delhi. Now, even the farmers cannot express the grievances by coming to the capital," Rahul tweeted.