More Farmers’ Groups Extended Support to Farm Laws: Tomar, “Misleading” Claims Farmers’ Unions

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Dec 14: Even as a section of the Bharatiya Kisan Union leading the farmers’ agitation accused the central government of “misleading” the agriculturists on the Minimum Support Price (MSP), the union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday claimed that at least 10 more organisations representing farmers in several states have lend their support to the contentious three farm laws.

The minister’s assertion came even as the farmers claimed that the agitation demanding the repeal of the three laws were gaining momentum as 40 farmer leaders of the United Farmers Front held a day-long hunger strike at various border points near Delhi and several highways leading to Delhi blocked by the protesters.

As the protest against the central government’s agricultural reforms entered day 19, farmers held sit-in protests across the country on Monday and the nationwide protests was joined by more and more farmers at several border points in the national capital. They were seen shouting anti-government slogans, singing songs, taking out marches with posters and banners and attending speeches at the borders.

However, Tomar said the leaders of the 10 organisations who called on him on Monday, was the fourth group of farmers who have extended support to the laws in the last fortnight with the government maintaining its stand that the agriculture laws would bring major reforms in the farming sector that will help eliminate the middlemen from the equation, allowing the farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

Contradicting Tomar’s claim, Gurnam Singh Chaduni, President of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Haryana) said the central government was “misleading” everyone on the MSP. “One thing the BJP is spreading that MSP will be given. Its ministers are repeatedly saying. The government is misleading everyone on MSP. Home Minister Amit Shah replied to us during 8th December meet that they can’t buy all 23 crops at MSP as its costs Rs 17 lakhs crores,” Chaduni told the media.

According to Tomar, the 10 organisations from various states like Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Bihar and Haryana, associated with All India Kisan Coordination Committee, submitted a memorandum to him stating that the Narendra Modi government had enacted the laws “for the welfare of farmers and that they welcome and support it.”

As the Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, whose political future is at stake over the farmers’ strike, reiterated that the “talks will be held soon” while the protest against the farm laws intensified and thousands of farmers have gathered around and are camping at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, Tomar said the centre want the discussions to be held “clause by clause. They’ll give their opinion on our proposal, we’ll definitely hold further talks,” he said. Tomar expressed the confidence about future negotiations after another round of meeting he had with the union home minister Amit Shah on Monday.

Tomar maintained that the central government was “engaging” with the farmers’ leaders to decide on the next date of talks. The government is ready for discussion anytime and the farmers’ leaders have to “decide and convey” when they are ready for the next meeting, he added. “The meeting will definitely happen. We are engaging with farmers,” Tomar told the media.

On Sunday, a delegation of more than 100 farmers from Uttarakhand had extended their support to the laws. Before that a delegation of 29 farmers from Haryana are claimed to have taken the same stand on the farm laws. The government had also claimed that a group of farmers from Uttar Pradesh at the advice of the defence minister Rajnath Singh withdrew their agitation and agreed to remove the barricades at the Chilla border in Noida. The agitating farmers’ leaders, however, have disputed over the government’s claims and maintained that most of the organisations named by it had nothing to do with farming.

Rajnath Singh while addressing a convention of the Federation of Indian Chambers and Commerce (FICCI) said the Centre was open for discussion on the farm laws and that there was no question of taking any “retrograde” steps against the agriculture sector. Singh also said the recent farm laws — which the farmers want to be scrapped — were undertaken keeping the best interests of farmers in mind.

The Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who observed a day-long hunger strike to show solidarity with protesting farmers, said those who should be tilling their fields were sitting in biting cold as he charged that because of the new farms laws the country would see prices rise by 16 times, and not just 16%, in the next four years. In a tweet, he said “the new farm laws will force a price rise by 16 times in the next four years. “Not 16%, but 16 times. Twice in one year, four times in two years, eight times in 3 years and 16 times in 4 years. That’s actually allowed in the new law,” he said.

“Our farmers are in peril these days. Those who should be tilling their fields are sitting in the biting cold. But I am happy people in the country including the army, lawyers, actors, doctors, are with them,” Kejriwal said in the national capital. “We are with farmers too,” the AAP chief said.

His Rajasthan counterpart Ashok Gehlot slammed remarks made by the BJP leaders on farmers’ protest, calling it “most unfortunate and condemnable.” Taking to Twitter, the senior Congress leader also urged the Centre to find mutual ground and address the issues raised by the protesting farmers.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of protesting farmers from Rajasthan blocked the Delhi-Jaipur national highway in Alwar district after they were stopped by police from marching towards the national capital.

Meanwhile, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSSC) has evicted its own national convenor V.M. Singh from his position. Singh had said he was willing to hold separate discussions with the government, focussing on demands related to a minimum support price (MSP) law. At the same time, Punjab farm unions also distanced themselves from the human rights-related protests of the BKU (Ugrahan), which has also decided not to participate in Monday’s hunger strike.