With 500 bikes and cars in tow, Punjab farmers protest US trade deal

3 min readMohaliUpdated: Jul 13, 2026 09:19 PM IST

View of the Bike/Car rally of BKU Rajewal in Chandigarh on Monday. (Express Photo by Jasbir Malhi)

Thousands of farmers under the banner of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) took out a bike and car rally on Monday, stretching from Nature Park in Mohali’s Phase-8 to the Sector-34 Exhibition Ground in Chandigarh. The rally saw participation from all 23 districts of Punjab and aimed at pressing the government on long-pending demands that have been left unattended for years.

The parade comprised over 500 motorcycles, cars, and jeeps. During the rally, the Chandigarh and Mohali police enforced tight security, diverting traffic in several major areas. Some schools also declared a holiday as a precautionary measure.

The parade comprised over 500 motorcycles, cars, and jeeps. (Express Photo by Jasbir Malhi)

‘Free Trade Deal will sink Indian farming’

Addressing the rally, BKU (Rajewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal said, “Our single biggest demand today is the outright rejection of the proposed India-US Free Trade Agreement. If this deal goes through, India’s small and marginal farmers will simply not be able to compete with their heavily subsidised counterparts in America and other nations. Our agriculture dairy, poultry, and every allied sector will be decimated.”

Raising concerns over Punjab’s deteriorating water quality, state secretary Rajewal said, “Uranium, lead, and heavy metals are increasingly being detected in Punjab’s groundwater. If this is not addressed urgently, every household will soon have a cancer patient. As per a recent Indian Council of Medical Research report, Punjab is already losing 68 people to cancer every single day.”

‘Politicians busy with power games while farmers suffer’

State secretary of BKU Rajewal Parmdeep Singh Baidwan accused political parties of playing petty politics while ignoring the real issues confronting the people. He alleged that the proposed trade pact, land acquisition policies, and decisions concerning natural resources were all stacked against the farming community. “Make no mistake we will continue to resist these anti-farmer moves with all our might,” he added.

Following the rally, the farmers submitted two separate memorandums one addressed to the Prime Minister through the Punjab Governor on national-level demands, and another to the Punjab Chief Minister highlighting state-level issues, seeking immediate intervention on both fronts.

Traffic snarls on these routes during rally

Traffic jam on the dividing road of Sector 44/50 during the farmers’ rally in Chandigarh on Monday.(Express Photo by Jasbir Malhi)

To manage the rally’s passage, Chandigarh Police temporarily diverted traffic at several key points, including Sector 51/52 Light Point, Piccadilly Chowk, South End Chowk, ISBT Sector 43, Sector 20/21-33/34 Chowk, Gurudwara Chowk, Gaushala Chowk, and the Mohali barrier. Officials confirmed that traffic was restored to normalcy on both main and alternate routes as the rally progressed.