Demanding rejection of the Rangarajan Committee report on freeing the sugar sector, former Army chief V.K Singh on Tuesday joined a Parliament gherao by sugarcane farmers and shared stage with Indian National Lok Dal chief Omprakash Chautala.

Trinamool Congress MP Sultan Ahmed also participated in the protest which has been organised by Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan (RKMS) headed by V M Singh.

The former Army chief had on November 2 attended a press conference held by RKMS and announced that the outfit will gherao Parliament on December 4 if Government did not reject the Rangarajan Committee report on freeing the sugar sector.

The Rangarajan Committee has recommended phased decontrol of the highly regulated Rs 80,000-crore sugar industry by suggesting removal of the levy obligation, release mechanism and having a uniform, revenue-linked sugarcane price.

This is the second time in less than two months that the former Army chief is sharing the dais with Chautala.

Earlier, Singh had said there was nothing wrong in sharing the dais with the INLD chief as he worked for farmers’ rights and that he had not thought about joining politics so far.

Chautala alleged that farmers were not getting enough power or water but its tariff was being regularly increased. “What we need is system change not just change in those who rule us,” he said.

The organisers said the recommendations of the panel would affect farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

“The truth is that the Commission has acted only on behalf of the sugar mills and ignored the farmers’ interest, whereby farmers who are already in a miserable condition will face more hardships,” V M Singh said.

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