JAIPUR: Farmers are getting ready for another showdown with the Rajasthan Government over their long-pending problems of irrigation water, power supply and a host of other issues with a rally here on Thursday. Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat is to address the rally, the first public mobilisation after the police crackdown on the agitating farmers of Indira Gandhi Canal Phase I in October-November 2006.

The rally, which has the support of the Left parties, their trade unions and a host of activist groups and civil society organisations which have come together under the banner of Loktantrik Adhikar Morcha, will also mark culmination of the journey of "Kisan Rath", flagged off from Rawla in Sriganganagar a fortnight ago. The opposition Congress party is not joining the rally, though it is part of the Kisan Mazdoor Vyapari Sangarsh Samiti, which is spearheading the farmers' agitation in the Phase I area.

Though the rally organisers have termed it "a one-day protest against the repressive regime of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje", there are apprehensions of farmers staying put in a "padav" (siege) as they did in Jaipur during the previous rally in 2005 over the issue of electricity rates. The first point of confrontation with the authorities and the organisers this time is likely to be the venue of the rally.

The Loktantrik Adhikar Morcha leaders have announced that the rally will be held at Amriton Ka Bagh, the favourite venue for political rallies, not far away from the State Assembly. However, the authorities so far have not given clearance for the venue but instead suggested Vidhaydhar Nagar stadium, some 15 km from the heart of the city.

"Our rally is also against the suppression of people's democratic rights to agitate, express their opinion and show their resentment," said CITU State secretary Ravindra Shukla at a joint press conference here on Tuesday. "Our demonstration would be where the seat of power is. If we are not given permission to assemble at Amriton Ka Bagh, people will decide what they should do next," he said.

"A large contingent of farmers has already left from Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh and other parts of Rajasthan and are on their way to Jaipur. This is going to be an outcry against repression", said CPI State secretary Tara Singh Siddhu.

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