Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quoted by ANI saying “Apne CM ko thanks Kehna, ki mein Bhatinda airport tak zinda laut paaya,” ( “Thank the CM for me, I could atleast come alive to the airport”) to the Bhatinda Airport officials on his return from Ferozpur after farmers of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee (KSMC) blocked approach roads to the PM’s rally.
This was the Prime Minister’s first visit to the state after the repeal of the contentious three farm laws. The committee members had given a call to disrupt the Prime Minister’s rally as the Centre is silent on the minimum support price (MSP) issue.
Kisan Ekta Morcha took to Twitter and put out pictures of the massive protests with ‘Go Back Modi’ reverberating across regions of the state.
“Today morning PM landed at Bathinda from where he was to go to National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala by helicopter. Due to rain and poor visibility, PM waited for about 20 minutes for the weather to clear out. When the weather didn’t improve, it was decided that he would visit the National Marytrs Memorial via road, which would take more than 2 hours. He proceeded to travel by road after necessary confirmation of necessary security arrangements by the DGP Punjab Police,” said the MHA.
“Around 30 kms away from National Martyrs Memorial in Hussainiwala, when the PM’s convoy reached a flyover, it was found that the road was blocked by some protestors. The PM was stuck on a flyover for 15-20 minutes. This was a major lapse in the security of PM,” the MHA further said.
BJP National President JP Nadda deplored the ‘security breach’ and alleged that the Congress government in Punjab is trying to scuttle the PM’s rally by blocking roads.