COURTESY HT JAN 14

Avoid holding large public events, Centre advises Haryana govt

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s event at a village in Karnal district was cancelled three days ago after protesting farmers vandalised the programme venue.
HT Correspondent

letterschd@hindustantimes.com

CHANDIGARH : The Haryana government has been advised to avoid large public events until the current impasse between protesting farmers and the Union government over three contentious agricultural laws is resolved, according to people with knowledge of developments.

This suggestion was among the issues discussed when chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, education minister Kanwar Pal and Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president OP Dhankar met Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday evening in Delhi, said the people quoted above.

Also discussed at the meeting was the ransacking and violence at Khattar’s kisan mahapanchayat event in Karnal three days ago.

The chief minister talked about how the state government politically and administratively tackled the protesters who vandalised the venue. “It was discussed that the government should stay away from big public meetings for the time being,” said a BJP leader aware of the proceedings of the meeting. After the hour-long meeting, Khattar and Chautala said they discussed the prevailing law and order situation in Haryana.

Khattar was slated to attend the kisan mahapanchayat as chief guest on January 10 in Karnal and interact with people about the three laws. But he had to cancel the visit after protesters stormed the helipad and vandalised the venue.

Later, BJP legislator Harvinder Kalyan, who organised the event, held the local police responsible for giving a free run to the protesters.

Several villages and various Khaps, or community organisations, in Haryana have passed resolutions calling for the boycott of Haryana ministers and MLAs from the BJP and its ally, Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), for supporting the three laws that farmers say will put them at the mercy of big firms and shut local agriculture markets. The central government has repeatedly rejected the allegations and the laws were put on hold by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Chautala met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed several issues, including the farmers protest, the Jannayak Janata Party said in a statement.