Mumbai: Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday reacted sharply to the suspension of party MLA Abu Azmi from the Maharashtra Assembly over his recent controversial remarks praising Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.

In a post on X, Akhilesh slammed the action against Abu Azmi, saying, “If the basis of suspension starts getting influenced by ideology, then what difference will remain between freedom of expression and slavery.”

Defending the SP MLA, he said, “Whether it is our MLAs or MPs, their fearless wisdom is unmatched. If some people think that by ‘suspension’ one can put a rein on the tongue of truth, then this is the childishness of their negative thinking.”

“Today’s free-thinking says, we don’t want BJP!” he added.

Akhilesh Yadav’s response came hours after Abu Azmi was suspended from the House till the end of the Session.

The suspension came a day after Abu Azmi apologized for his remarks on Tuesday, stating that his words had been misinterpreted. In a video statement, Abu Azmi clarified that he was merely citing historical accounts and had no intention of disrespecting any revered figures.

However, soon after his apology, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde stated that the SP MLA would not be forgiven and “his statement will cost him”.

Chandigarh, March 5: In a Delhi-like protest by farmers, mainly from Punjab, over their long-pending demands, several farm unions under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) are heading to Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, on Wednesday to start their indefinite agitation wherever they were stopped by the security.

As a precaution, the Chandigarh Police have sealed all the entry points to the city by deploying heavy security and issued an advisory to the commuters to avoid these routes.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ughrahan) President Joginder Singh Ughrahan has appealed to the farmers not to block the roads, highways and railway tracks as it would create public inconvenience.

He advised the farmers to stage sit-in protest at roadsides at the place where the security personnel stopped them from moving ahead.

But he appealed to all farmer unions to lodge the protest in a massive way by reaching Chandigarh and joining “Pakka Morcha” in Chandigarh, where the administration has not yet allotted a site for the protest.

Official sources said the farmers would be stopped at the city’s entry point.

The SKM has accused the Punjab government of suppressing right to protest.

Besides the implementation of the agriculture policy, the demands of the SKM include release of land distribution to landless labourers and farmers and debt waiver of farmers and labourers.

Hours after talks between the Punjab government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and the SKM failed on Monday, raids are being conducted at residences of farmer leaders, including Ugrahan.

Talks to discuss farmers’ demands broke down midway with farmer leaders claiming a “livid” Chief Minister Mann “walked out of the meeting in a huff without a provocation”. After the meeting, the SKM leaders announced to go ahead with their call for massive sit-in protest in Chandigarh.

Ughrahan said the discussions with the Chief Minster were going on smoothly.

“After discussions on eight-nine out of our 18 demands, CM Mann said he had an infection in his eye for which he needed to go,” he told the media.

“The CM then asked us about our plans for the March 5 protest, to which we replied that the discussions were pending and we will take call on our plan to protest after that,” said Ughrahan, adding the CM got upset and left the meeting asking “us to resort to protest”.

Later, Chief Minister Mann said his doors “are always open for talks with the farmers but inconvenience and harassment of the public in the name of agitation should be avoided”.

Interacting with the farmers at a meeting here, the Chief Minister added the “government is always ready to resolve the issues pertaining to various sections of society through negotiations so that trouble to the common man through railway or road blockades must be avoided”.

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Tuesday slammed Chief Minister Mann for “ignoring” farmers, while the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) demanded the release of farmer leaders.

Warring accused the Chief Minister of arrogance and dismissive behaviour towards the SKM.

He said rather than engaging in constructive discussions to resolve the farmers’ grievances, the government has resorted to conducting raids on the residences of farm leaders.

Expressing shock at the manner in which leaders of the SKM were being treated, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia said: “Mr Bhagwant Mann threatened the kisan leaders with dire consequences when he was reminded of the promises he had made to farmers before assuming charge as Chief Minister in 2022.”

Reminding Chief Minister Mann about the promises made by him to farmers, the Akali leader said: “Mann assured farmers and farm labourers that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would remodel farm policies to ensure no farm suicide occurred in the state.”

The Chief Minister also assured farmers that farm income would be doubled and that his government would implement the M.S. Swaminathan Report whether the Centre did that or not.

Farmers were also assured that every crop would be procured by the state on minimum support price (MSP), he added.

Alwar, Rajasthan: A one-month-old infant, Alisba, died after allegedly being crushed under a police officer’s foot during a raid in Alwar’s Raghunathgarh village on Sunday (March 2) morning.

The raid, conducted at around 6:00 AM at the house of daily-wage labourer Imran Khan, was led by head constables Girdhari and Jagveer, along with constables Sunil, Rishi, and Shahid.

As per reports, Imran claimed that the police entered their house without warning while his wife was asleep with their one-month-old daughter, who was wrapped in a blanket.

“When I was sleeping on the cot with my infant daughter, the policemen arrived all of a sudden, pulled me out, and sent me out of the room. They also pulled my husband out. They stepped on my infant daughter’s head and killed her. This is murder, and I want justice,” Razida Khan, the mother of the deceased girl, told media.

After the police ignored the family’s complaint, angry villagers gathered outside the Alwar SP (Rural) residence, staging a protest demanding justice.

As per the report, ASP Tejpal Singh confirmed that an FIR was filed against unidentified police personnel, and Imran Khan’s family was assured of action.

Following this, Alwar SP Sanjeev Nain sent the accused officials to police lines. Police sources said the raid was linked to a cybercrime case, but Imran Khan was not named in any FIR. Imran denied any role in online fraud and claimed that the police seized his phone during the raid.

Condemning the incident, Rajasthan LoP Tika Ram Jully urged the Chief Minister to take stringent action against the responsible. “In Alwar, the police are harassing the public in the name of cyber fraud. Raids are being conducted, and money is extorted. I raised this issue in the Vidhan Sabha as well. An infant died during the raid by the police. The Chief Minister should take cognizance and ensure that the public is not harassed. Action should be taken against those responsible, but the public should not be harassed,” he told media.