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Karnataka farmers plan massive tractor rally in Bengaluru on Republic Day

Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, leader of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), a farmers’ movement, said there would be over 10,000 tractors participating in the parade on January 26.

In a show of support to their counterparts protesting against the farm laws in New Delhi, farmers in Karnataka have planned a massive tractor rally in Bengaluru on Republic Day.

Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, leader of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), a farmers’ movement, said there would be over 10,000 tractors participating in the parade on January 26. “Around 25,000 farmers will enter Bengaluru and reach Freedom Park through the main roads of the city via Yeshwanthpur and Malleswaram. The parade will be held from Nelamangala to Bengaluru, with farmers arriving in more than 10,000 tractors and other vehicles. The parade is planned to begin soon after the chief minister hoists the national flag,” he said.
“Farmers from Mysuru and other districts will also take part in the rally. Irrespective of the organisations that farmers are affiliated to, the rally will be a united movement,” Chandrashekhar said.
He added that the protesters would refrain from violence, and hence, “there is no reason for the police and authorities to deny us permission”.

Meanwhile, around 100 farmers from Mysuru, Chamarajanagar and Hassan have left the state to take part in the tractor parade planned by farmers in the national capital on Republic Day.
The delegation, led by farmers’ leader Manje Gowda, is expected to be joined by another 100 to 200 people, according to Karnataka State Sugarcane Farmers’ Association president Kurubur Shanthakumar. “While the first group has left in four vehicles with 50 kg of rice, 40 kg of vegetables, coconuts, and medicine, the second group is expected to leave the state by train,” he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, hundreds of farmers joined Congress workers in rallies across Bengaluru to express solidarity with their counterparts on the fringes of Delhi, who have been holding protests for close to two months now demanding the withdrawal of the contentious farm laws.