Farmers' 'mahapanchayat' at Ramlila Ground: Police deployed in central Delhi, traffic may be hit

Due to a ”Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat” convened by farmers at the Ramlila Maidan here on Thursday, the Delhi Police has beefed up security and deployed heavy force for checking vehicles, which might lead to traffic snarls in the central parts of the city, officials said.

Police have also issued a traffic advisory for commuters to avoid the roads leading to central Delhi. The number of paramilitary personnel deployed at Delhi’s borders has also been increased as the farmers have been asked not to come to the capital with their tractor-trolleys, the officials said.

The Delhi Police has given permission to the farmers to hold the event on the conditions that there would not be a gathering of more than 5,000 people, no tractor-trolleys and no march to the Ramlila Maidan.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer organisations that had spearheaded a protest at Delhi’s borders in 2020-21 against three agriculture laws that have since been repealed, has said it will hold a ”Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat” at the Ramlila Maidan on Thursday where a resolution will be passed to ”intensify the fight” against the BJP-led Centre’s policies related to the farming sector.