Farmer unions to decide on Centre's offer for talks today
The All India Samyukta Kisan Morcha has set up a five-member committee to discuss the future course of the agitation against the farm laws. The members of the committee include Prem Singh Bangu (All India Kisan Federation), Harinder Singh Lakhowal and Kuldeep Singh. They will draft a reply to the Centre's fresh proposal to resume talks on the farm laws to break the deadlock.
The committee will place the draft before the 40 members of the All India Samyukta Kisan Morcha. If the members agree and consensus is formed, the draft will then be given to the government.
Farmers are protesting at Delhi border points for more nearly four weeks against the new reforms. Earlier on Wednesday, farmers deferred a decision on the government's offer even as Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar expressed the hope that "unions will soon resume the dialogue".
Farmer leader Kulwant Singh Sandhu told reporters at the Singhu border that that 32 farmer unions from Punjab held a meeting on Tuesday and discussed the next course of action. The farmer leader said that a meeting of farmer leaders from across India would be held on Wednesday where a decision on the government's talks offer will be taken.
Last week, Vivek Aggarwal, Joint Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry, had sent a letter to 40 union leaders wherein he asked protesting farmer leaders to specify their concerns over its earlier proposal of amendments in the laws and choose a convenient date for the next round of talks. The sixth round of talks on December 9 was cancelled following a deadlock with the farmer unions refusing to budge from their demand for repealing the three laws.
Khattar shown black flags
In another related development, a group of protesters showed black flags to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and even tried to block his convoy in Ambala.
In Uttar Pradesh, a group of farmers who were heading to join the protesters clashed with police when they were stopped at Rampur-Moradabad toll plaza. While a couple of farmer unions have been on a sit-in on the Delhi-Noida border against the farm laws, a group of protesters, mainly residents of Jewar and Dadri in Greater Noida, came out on roads in support of the laws and was stopped by police at Mahamaya Flyover.
READ MORE: Farmers protest: A 'champi’ parlour at Singhu border to keep heads cool
Farmers camping at UP Gate on Delhi-Ghaziabad border on Tuesday blocked all 14 lanes of the National Highway 9 for eight hours from 9AM and also allegedly manhandled a journalist and photographer.
Tomar hopeful of resolution
Agriculture Minister Tomar said that he is hopeful that protesting unions will soon complete their internal discussions and resume talks with the government to resolve the crisis. He met two more peasants' bodies from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh that extended support to the legislation.
"Representatives of different farmers' bodies had come to tell that the laws are good and are in the interest of farmers. They had come to urge the government not make any amendments to the laws," Tomar said after meeting the two groups.
READ MORE: From foot massage parlours to makeshift gyms - various colours of farmers stir | Photos
"I am hopeful they (protesting farmers' unions) will soon complete their internal discussions and come forward for talks. We will be able to find a solution successfully," the minister added.
Congress to gherao BJP offices in UP
The Congress will hold a statewide protest across Uttar Pradesh in support of the farmers' agitation on Wednesday marking the birth anniversary of Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh. In a statement issued here on Tuesday, the UP Congress said its party workers will 'gherao' offices and residences of BJP MPs, MLAs and public representatives in the state in support of protesting farmers, and also hold demonstrations by clapping and beating steel plates.
The party said that despite the unfortunate deaths of some farmers at the protest sites in the national capital, the BJP-led central government has turned a blind eye towards the farming community. UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said the party will continue with its agitation until the three newly-enacted farm laws are withdrawn.
READ MORE: Govt reaches out to protesting farmers again, asks them to choose date for next talks
Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, are currently staying put at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in protest against the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. They have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations. However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.
The government argues that the three farm laws will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.
