A huge crowd gathered for a farmers' 'Mahapanchayat' which was called by Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Naresh Tikait in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, as per a report in NDTV. This was after his brother Rakesh burst into tears while leading the farmers' protest less than 150 km away in Ghazipur.??
People gathered in massive numbers at the college grounds where the meeting was held.
This meeting was called after police tried to evict the farmers in Ghazipur. When that happened, Rakesh cried in front of the camera and said that he would not budge until the laws were repelled.?
"They want to destroy farmers, we will not allow this to happen. Either the laws will be taken back, or Tikait will kill himself. This is a conspiracy against farmers," he said.?
His appeal worked as more people joined the protests.?
According to a senior UP police official Prashant Kumar, cops did not plan to evict any of the Ghazipur protestors, as per a report in ANI.?
"The force build-up last evening at Ghazipur was not to evict anyone but to ensure that no anti-social elements infiltrated the protest. But some people twisted the developments out of proportion," he said.?
Rakesh himself was a Sub Inspector in Delhi Police before joining the cause of the farmers which was started by his father Mahendra Singh and then continued by his brother.