Around 100 farmers from Karnataka, who were travelling in a train to the national capital to take part in the scheduled protest on February 13, were stopped at Bhopal by the state police, according to farmers' body SKM.

Addressing a press conference here, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) South India Convenor Shanthakumar said he was also travelling with the group in the train and "the police stopped us at the Bhopal station, and some of our members were injured." Shanthakumar somehow managed to reach the national capital.

He rued that while on one hand the central ministers are holding peace meetings with SKM and other farmer bodies, on the other hand, the government is stopping farmers from participating in the protest.

Around 23 mahapanchayat meetings have been held across the country and the protest was planned three months before, he said, adding that it was not announced suddenly.

Besides a legal guarantee for MSP, the farmers are also demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, withdrawal of police cases and "justice" for victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai are scheduled to meet the protesting farmers' organisations, including SKM in the evening in Chandigarh.

This is the second meeting after they had met last week.

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