V P Singh to attend protest rally at Dadri plant

New Delhi, Aug 16: Former Prime Minister V P Singh today announced he would defy a ban on his attending a protest rally scheduled for tomorrow of farmers affected by a private sector power plant at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh.

Mr Singh told newspersons at his residence after the district authorities of Gautam Budh Nagar banned his entry into its territory the UP police could not suppress the voices of the farmers by such directives and he certainly would take part in the rally, braving all the hurdles. He said the authorities had acquired 2,500 acres of agricultural lands for the Reliance Energy Corporation but the project could have taken off with a mere 350 acres of land.

Demanding immediate waiver of farm loans and return of the acquired farm lands, Mr Singh said he would actively participate in the rally protesting against acquisition of agricultural lands by Reliance.

Actor-turned-Samajwadi Party rebel MP Raj Babbar, who was present along with Mr Singh, alleged that the UP Government had deployed a huge posse of policemen right from Agra, Mathura, Firozabad, Etah, Bulandshahar, Azamgarh, Ghaziabad, Meerut and Lucknow to foil the Dadri protest rally. So far over 18,000 protestors had courted arrest.

Mr Raj Babbar also apprehended that the U P authorities might use the National Security Act against prominent Jan Morcha activists to stifle the voices of the farmers.

UNI