Farmers' Protest: Police place barricades, concertina wires at Delhi borders, Opposition slams govt

Security has been beefed up at the protesting sites with the further strengthening of barricades.

For instance at the Delhi-Haryana border, iron rods have been placed between two rows of cement barriers on a flank of the main highway by police which are controlled by the Centre, NDTV reported.

In another portion of the same border, also known as the Singhu border, a makeshift cement wall has been erected to restrict the movement of the protesters.

The country's primary opposition party Congress has slammed the government over the latest development with its top leader and Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi tweeting, "GOI, Build bridges, not walls!"

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted, "Dear Prime Minister sir, are you declaring war against your own farmers?"

Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra tweeted, "Barricades, nails, barbed wire at Delhi’s borders Can’t keep these ghoospetiyas out BJP."

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which rules Delhi, has taken a dig at the government on the micro-blogging site tweeting, "Be afraid China, be very afraid! Apologies. This is not for China but for farmers."

Earlier on Jan 26 on the occasion of India's Republic Day, the farmers took out a tractor rally which turned violent in the national capital, causing death to at least one farmer and injuring more than 100 police personnel.

Though two farmers' unions called off their protest post-violence, the agitation, which began on Nov 26 last year, more or less is continuing in and around the national capital.

In a bid to amplify the protest, the farmers have called a countrywide "Chakka Jam" on Saturday.

More than 10 rounds of talks were held between the representatives of farmers and the government but with no solution to the deadlock, as the protesters demanded withdrawal of the three contentious farm laws and a legal guarantee to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their crops.

One of the Centre's new farm laws will now allow the farmers to sell their produce beyond the government-regulated wholesale markets.

Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's repeated reference to the farm laws as an agricultural reform in favour of the farmers, the protesters, who are mostly from Punjab and Haryana, feel they would be left at the mercy of big corporate houses.