Farmers back wrestlers: Mahapanchayat in UP, protests in Haryana, Punjab

Farmer outfits held a khap mahapanchayat' in Uttar Pradesh and a series of protests in Punjab and Haryana on Thursday, showing solidarity with wrestlers who have accused Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment.

At the congregation in Soram village in UP's Muzaffarnagar, Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said they planned to meet President Droupadi Murmu and will hold another mahapanchayat in Haryana's Kurukshetra on Friday to discuss the next steps in the agitation.

In Delhi, Trinamool Congress MPs walked out of a parliamentary panel meeting after their demand to discuss the safety of women athletes was rejected by its chairman and BJP MP Vivek Thakur, according to party MP Sushmita Dev.

TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a candlelight march in Kolkata, slamming the Centre and backing wrestlers who want Singh put behind bars.

But Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur maintained that the government