Shimla, Aug 28 (PTI) Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait got into a heated argument with a local arhtiya who objected to the blocking of a road by farmers protesting against falling apple prices in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh on Saturday.

A video clip of the heated exchange has gone viral.

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Before the altercation could escalate, the situation was brought under control by police personnel present there.

The arhtiya (commission agent) later told the media that his work was affected because of the farmers blocking the road. "If they want to hold an agitation, they may do so in any field," he added.

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Taking to mediapersons in Shimla later, Tikait alleged that the man was drunk and that he had stones in his hands and threatened to damage their vehicles.

Solan Superintendent of Police Virender Sharma told PTI that action is not being taken against any person as the police has not received any complaint.

Addressing a press conference in Shimla, Tikait urged the farmers of Himachal Pradesh to get united for ensuring adequate rates of their apple and other crops.

The BKU leader stated if they did not unite, big private companies would fix the rates of their crops by opening cold storage in the hill state.

Tikait also demanded that transport subsidy should be given to apple growers of the hill state for carrying their produce to mandis.

He stated the farmers will decide about their strategy with regard to bypolls in the state as and when the polling dates are announced for Mandi parliamentary constituency and Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly seats.

Tikait said the farmers will hold a national level rally in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh on September 5.

The BKU leader, who is part of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha spearheading a protest against three contentious farm laws, said the central government should break the deadlock by initiating unconditional talks with them.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)