New Delhi: Protesting farmers staging a tractor rally to block the Delhi- Jaipur highway on Sunday. Thousands of farmers will participate in the tractor rally, protesting the Centre’s new agriculture laws, the farmers vowing to intensify their agitation despite a fresh message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the new legislations.

The protesting farmers will also hold a nationwide demonstration at all district offices on Monday and hold a hunger strike from 8 am to 5 pm, they said. Thousands of policemen were stationed near Delhi’s borders to stop them from blocking major highways and taking over more roads into the capital.

                   Police made elaborate bandobast, morethan 1,000 policemen were posted on Gurgaon’s border with Delhi and 3,500 policemen in Faridabad to block the movement of protesters after they said they will occupy Delhi-Jaipur highway. Police in large numbers also stopped groups of hundreds of farmers from blocking the main highway from Delhi to Agra. Dramatic visuals showed protesters – backed by the Bharatiya Kisan Union – shouting slogans after they occupied toll plazas on highways, allowing vehicles to pass without paying toll fee. Some farmers were detained on the expressway to Agra.

The farmers, however, said they want nothing less than the new laws to be scrapped. A petition was filed on Friday in the Supreme Court by the Bharatiya Kisan Union that sought repeal them. The top court has already issued notices to the centre on a batch of petitions challenging the laws. Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, a BJP ally, on Friday said he would resign from his post if he is unable to secure the minimum support price (MSP) guarantee for farmers.

“Our party’s national president already made it clear that MSP must be ensured to farmers. The written proposals given by the Central Government to the protesting farmers include a provision for MSPs. I will work to secure MSP for farmers as long as I am in power”. Protesting farmers decided to take the agitation from December 14, there will be a full-scale protest across the country, they said.