Foundation stone laid for BJP's office uprooted; FIR registered

CHANDIGARH: An FIR has been registered in connection with the uprooting of the foundation stone of a BJP party office in Jhajjhar hours after it had been laid by the party's state unit chief O P Dhankar, police said on Monday.

The foundation stone laid for the party office on Rewari road of the district on Sunday was allegedly removed by a group of farmers protesting the new farm laws.

The protesters, including women, were carrying black flags and raising slogans against the Centre for not rolling back the laws despite protests by thousands of farmers near the borders of Delhi for over six months.

''Strict action will be taken as per the law,'' Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said in Ambala, responding to a question about the incident.

Several farmer groups have been opposing public functions of the BJP-JJP leaders in Haryana over the issue of the farm laws.

Scores of farmers have been camping at Delhi's borders since November last year, demanding that the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

However, the government has maintained the laws are pro-farmer.

Several rounds of talks between the farmers and the government have failed to break the deadlock over these contentious laws.

The government last held talks with farmer leaders on January 22. The talks between the two sides came to a halt after a January 26 tractor parade by farmers in Delhi turned violent.