A sea of farmers and activists from across Gujarat — protesting against the proposed Nirma cement plant at Mahuva in Bhavnagar — reached Ahmedabad on Wednesday as part of their 350 km, 12-day foot march from Mahuva to Gandhinagar. The protesters aim to reach Gandhinagar on Thursday and hand over a memorandum to Chief Minister Narendra Modi outlining their concerns over the proposed plant.

Later the protesters held a brainstorming session over the memorandum at a public meeting at Sabarmati Ashram here.

The protesters aim to stage a sit in at the state capital till Modi gives them an audience and issues a statement on the issue while the Assembly is in session.

Mahuva BJP MLA Dr Kanu Kalsaria, who is spearheading the farmers’ movement, said, “The state government and Nirma have welded together.”

The protesters had reached the Sabarmati Ashram by noon. A large group sat in the open space near Mahatma Gandhi’s erstwhile house, watching a theatre performance on a small makeshift stage. In one of the plays, actors representing farmers and villagers were trampled by actors representing companies and government officials.

A host of activist groups from across Gujarat, politicians of various parties, and a group of women from Kutch joined the protesters.

Under a makeshift open tent, thousands sat and listened to speakers protesting against the Narendra Modi government. Dr Kalsaria told the audience: “I want to stay indoors because if I come out, I will be infected by development. I am scared of development.”

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