Will call for Punjab bandh if govt does not initiate talk: BKU leader

Jalandhar (Punjab) [India], August 21 : While staging a protest at Punjab's Jalandhar, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)-Doaba's leader Manjit Singh Rai said on Saturday, they (farmers) will call for Punjab Bandh if the government does not initiate dialogue by today evening.
However, Rai also said they are trying to avoid the bandh for tomorrow due to the Rakhi festival.
Sugarcane farmers blocked highway and railway track in Punjab's Jalandhar on today and demanded that the state government clears their dues.

"If government doesn't hold talks with us by today evening, then we'll give Punjab Bandh call. We'll try to avoid imposing a bandh tomorrow due to Rakhi," Rai said.
Further, he said the bandh might be imposed from tomorrow evening instead. "We will decide by evening if the call of the bandh is required or not. Tomorrow, since brothers and sisters travel to each other's places, we are thinking of imposing the bandh later in the evening or exempting tomorrow completely. However, if we do not come to any common ground with the government, we will definitely be blocking all the tolls across the state," he added.
He also requested the sisters of the protesting farmers to visit the site of the protest to tie rakhi to their brothers.