Protesting farmers attempting to reach India’s capital, New Delhi, battled with police authorities for the second day on Wednesday, with drones dropping tear gas shells.
On Tuesday morning, hundreds of farmers began marching into Delhi on trucks and trolleys filled with food, bedding, and other supplies after talks between their unions and the government failed to yield a promise on minimum pricing for a variety of crops.
The demonstrators were stopped by police personnel at the Shambhu border, which separates Punjab and Haryana, the northern states to which the majority of the protesters belong, nearly 200 kilometers (125 miles) from their destination.
Farmers say the government has failed to fulfil its 2021 promise of paying more for crops.
There was tight security arrangements in other areas bordering the national capital as well, with rows of barricades and cement blocks topped with wire meshing, and empty containers lying ready for use as physical barriers.
A year-long protest in 2021 by farmers, a powerful voting bloc, had pushed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to repeal some farm laws and promise to find ways to ensure support prices for all farm produce.
The latest protests come with the country months away from a national election where Modi will seek a third term.
