Chandigarh, Sep 19 (TIWN) Fearing a backlash from its alliance partner Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government in Haryana on Saturday advised authorities to exercise restraint while dealing with farmers protesting against the central farm Bills passed by the Lok Sabha.

In a communication to Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Vjai Vardhan said the protesters should be dealt with "tact and patience".  On the call of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), the farmers have been planning statewide road blockades to lodge their protests against the farm Bills.  JJP leader Digvijay Chautala, the younger brother of Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala and the first leader from the BJP-JJP alliance to condemn the police action, has apologised to the farmers for facing batons in a clash with the police over a rally against the farm ordinances that preceded the Bills. 

"The Jannayak Janata Party was always with the farmers and the interests of the farmers are always supreme for them. After watching the video of 'lathicharge' on farmers, the first thing we did was to condemn the incident as it was wrong," he said on September 17.  He added the lathicharge on farmers on September 10 was equivalent to lathicharge on the family of the late Chaudhary Devi Lal.