Farmers on Tuesday morning commenced their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march from Punjab to press for their demands, amid heavy barricading at Haryana-Punjab border and entry points into the national capital.

The Haryana Police hurled tear gas shells when a group of youth, who were part of the farmers’ ‘Chalo Delhi’ protest march, tried to break barricades set up at the Shambhu border in Ambala, officials said.

Here are the LIVE updates from the Farmers’ Protest:

Ashok Chavan, former Maharashtra Chief Minister, joined the BJP today, a day after he quit the Congress. The former MP, who was a prominent face for the Congress in the politically-significant state, was welcomed into the BJP by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state party chief Chandrashekhar Bawankul.

Mr Chavan, sources said, will be filing nomination papers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election tomorrow. In fact, it is the nomination deadline that had prompted him to join the BJP just a day after resigning from the Congress’s primary membership, the sources added.

The former Chief Minister had yesterday told the media that he would take a decision on his political future in the next couple of days. However, this morning, he said he would be starting a new political journey with the BJP today.

Mr Chavan’s exit is yet another blow to Maharashtra Congress months ahead of state polls and the general election. Earlier, key Congress leader, Milind Deora, quit the party and joined the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena. Baba Siddique too left and moved to the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

According to Congress sources, Mr Chavan’s differences with state party chief Nana Patole played a key role in his decision. Speaking to the media yesterday, he had suggested that he was upset over the delay in finalising seat-sharing within the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance with just months left for the polls.

Mumbai Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam said that the former Chief Minister was upset over the working style of a Congress leader in Maharashtra. He did not name any leader. “He (Chavan) had approached the top leadership. Had his complaint been taken seriously, this situation would not have happened,” Mr Nirupam said.

Congress leaders have taken swipes at Mr Chavan following his decision. Senior party leader Jairam Ramesh took a “washing machine” jab — washing machine is an oft-repeated reference the Congress uses to accuse the BJP of stalling criminal investigations against Opposition leaders who switch to their side.

“When friends and colleagues leave a political party that has given them much — perhaps much more they deserved — it is always a matter of anguish. But to those who are vulnerable THAT Washing Machine will always prove more attractive than ideological commitment or personal loyalties,” Mr Ramesh said. “These betrayers don’t realise that their exit opens up vast new opportunities to those whose growth they have always stunted,” he added.

Maharashtra Congress chief Patole said it is “unfortunate that leaders who have got everything are leaving the Congress party and ideology”.

Tear gas has been fired at farmers massing at the Shambhu border point between Punjab and Haryana – a key meeting point for farmers from each state heading to Delhi as part of their ‘Delhi Chalo’ call – and many have been detained after they tried to remove cement barriers obstructing their progress.

Around 200 farmer unions – and an estimated one lakh farmers from neighbouring Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh – began marching on the national capital Tuesday morning, in a worrying replay of the 2020/21 protests, in which dozens died and the city was blockaded and cut-off for months

Visuals showed huge plumes of smoke – making visibility almost impossible – and hundreds of farmers, as well as media personnel, running helter-skelter to the sound of tear gas shells being fired. 

The shelling – the first signs of violence – broke as the clock struck noon and the farmers began their push to Delhi. An estimated two dozen shells were fired, despite no immediate signs of provocation.

Visuals from the Shambhu border – over 200 km from Delhi – also showed the police and security personnel – already outnumbered – dropping smoke bombs from drones to disperse the farmers.

Videos also showed farmers, with scarves wrapped around their faces, jumping concrete barriers to push aside metal barricades, and war zone-like scenes with green fields shrouded in smoke and gun fire (from tear gas guns) in the background. In one video farmers are throwing stones at the police.

#WATCH | Protesting farmers forcibly remove the cement barricade with their tractors as they try to cross over the Haryana-Punjab Shambhu border. pic.twitter.com/gIyGNy8wsi

— ANI (@ANI) February 13, 2024

The Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, one of the farmer groups behind this protest, has said an estimated 10,000 people have already gathered at the Shambhu border point.

“The farmers are peaceful (but) tear gas is being used against us through drones. The protest will continue till the government agrees to our demands,” General Secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher said.

READ | Farmers’ Delhi March: Which Highways Are Closed, What Routes To Take

Police in each of those states have been prepping for this protest for the past few days, positioning concrete slabs and heavy metal barricades to block highways, and stop farmers and tractors pulling trolleys full of food and essential supplies – a signal of their intent to launch a second long-term protest.

Concrete slabs, iron nails, barricades, barbed wires, police and paramilitary personnel deployed in Haryana’s Jind as a measure to maintain law and order in view of farmers ‘Delhi Chalo’ march

#WATCH | Haryana: Concrete slabs, iron nails, barricades, barbed wires, police and paramilitary personnel deployed in Haryana’s Jind as a measure to maintain law and order in view of farmers ‘Delhi Chalo’ march pic.twitter.com/GNFrVaoxIy

— ANI (@ANI) February 13, 2024

Concrete blocks and nails have also been placed on key roads leading into Delhi to prevent tractors and trollies from entering the city, where orders banning large gatherings are in force till March 12.

READ | Delhi Police Bans Large Gatherings Before Farmers’ Mega March

Within Delhi, police have shut down key border crossings into each state, resulting in traffic jams at the Ghazipur and Chilla points, which connect the city with Ghaziabad and Noida in UP.

READ | “1 Km In 1 Hour”: Traffic Jams Ahead Of Farmers’ March To Delhi

Other border points, including Singhu and Tikri, which were major protest sites four years ago, have also been fortified. These include setting up nail strips across roads to stop farmers’ vehicles from forcing their way past check posts and placing metal barricades, including barbed wire fences.

The Singhu border – the main Delhi-Chandigarh road – has been blocked on both sides.

Also in Delhi, police are practising firing teargas shells; a video accessed by NDTV shows cops firing teargas shells in an open area in north Delhi, an exercise that left area residents in discomfort.

READ | Laying Nails In Farmers’ Path ‘Amritkaal‘ Or ‘Anyaykaal‘: Priyanka Gandhi

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government over the anti-protest measures; “Is the laying nails in the path of farmers ‘amritkaal‘ or ‘anyaykaal‘?” Ms Gandhi Vadra asked on X, attacking the ruling BJP for not fulfilling promises to farmers. “Mr Prime Minister! Why such behaviour with the country’s farmers? Why don’t you fulfil the promises…”

“We Have Everything We Need…”

Farmers marching on Delhi told NDTV they are coming prepared for another siege-like situation.

“From a needle to hammer, we have everything we need, including tools to break stones. We left our village with six months’ ration with us. We have enough diesel, even for our brothers from Haryana,” Harbhajan Singh, from Punjab’s Gurdaspur, who was part of the 2020 protest too, said.

READ | “6 Months’ Ration, Diesel In Trollies”: Punjab Farmers Ready For Long Haul

“We didn’t budge through 13 months last time. We were promised our demands will be met, but the government didn’t keep its promise. This time, we will leave only after all our demands are met.”

Government Races To Contain Protests

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party – aware of a potentially disastrous impact on its public image weeks before a general election – has already held one meeting with reps of protesting farmer unions.

Two union ministers, including junior Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, met farmer leaders late Monday. Some progress was made – an agreement was struck on repealing the Electricity Act, 2020 and on providing compensation to farmers killed in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri.

READ | What Are The Key Demands Of Farmers That Remain Unresolved?

However, there was no resolution of the farmers’ primary concerns – a law to guarantee MSP, or minimum support price for all crops, loan waivers, and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations – meaning the second “Delhi Chalo” protest began as scheduled.

Mr Munda told NDTV “some people want to create problems” and called on the farmers to have patience and trust the government. “The government is committed to the interests of farmers,” he said.

READ | Ready To Negotiate, But Some Don’t Want Solution: Minister To NDTV

“The talks did not lead to any result. We will start our march to Delhi… we will, however, discuss proposals given by the government. The government is at fault here,” a farmer leader said.

Rakesh Tikait’s Warning

Mr Tikait – a key figure in the 2020/21 protests against the government’s “black farm laws” – has backed the second ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation, and issued a warning.

READ | Farmer Leader Rakesh Tikait’s “If Government Creates Problem” Warning

“There are several farmer unions and they have different issues… If the government creates a problem for farmers marching to Delhi, we are not far from them. We are in support of them…” he told reporters.

With input from agencies

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