Centre Again Invites Agitating Farmers for Talks as More Ryots Converge on Delhi Borders
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 24: As the number of farmers on Delhi’s borders kept rising by day showing their resolve to keep fighting even on the 29th day of the agitation against the three farm laws, the Union agriculture ministry on Thursday wrote to farmers’ unions once again inviting them for the sixth round of talks at a “date and time of your choosing.”
The ministry’s letter came in response to the letter by the unions of the protesting farmers rejecting the government’s Sunday’s offer for talks saying that no negotiations would take place till the government “draws up a new agenda.”
The Thursday’s letter, again signed by the department joint secretary Vivek Aggarwal as he did on Sunday, referred to the letter sent by the farmers’ unions to the government on Wednesday, reiterating the government’s commitment to reach “logical solutions” to all the issues raised by the protesting farmers.
The letter said it was crucial for the government to keep negotiations open with various farmers’ organisations of the country. “The government has, respectfully and with open mind, held several rounds of talks and has also proposed to hold the next round of talks at your convenience,” the letter further stated.
It also talked about various objections raised by the farmers’ unions, including on the Minimum Support Price (MSP), and the points discussed between the two sides in five rounds of meetings thus far, including one each on December 1, 3 and 5. “I would once again like to stress that the government has spoken to you with open mind on the issues raised by you and is ready to do so in future as well. Please let us know the date and time, as convenient to you, for the next round. The discussion will take place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, with a ministerial-level committee,” the letter said.
While the farmers’ leaders said the fresh letter contained nothing new and was only a copy of the earlier letter already rejected by the unions, the union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar kept repeating that more and more farmers’ organisations in the country were coming out in favour of the three farm acts.
Tomar on Thursday met a delegation of farmers from Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat. Interacting with the media after the meeting, Tomar claimed that the delegation had submitted to him a letter supporting the three farm laws.
“Farmers from Baghpat have given me a letter in support of Centre’s farm laws. They’ve told me the government shouldn’t buckle under any pressure to make amendments to farm bills,” he told the media after he met a delegation of 60 farmers belonging to the Kisaan Mazdoor Sangh.
Earlier in the day, a delegation of three Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, met President Ram Nath Kovind, seeking his intervention to repeal the three laws. Several other Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were detained by the Delhi Police as they tried to march to the Rashtrapati Bhavan despite permission being granted to only three party leaders to meet the President.
Rahul Gandhi accompanied by, Ghulam Nabi Azad, the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, met the president and submitted a memorandum claimed to have been signed by over 20 million farmers demanding repeal of the three contentious acts.
Gandhi told the President that the laws were “anti-farmer” and would make farmers suffer huge losses. He said the Opposition stood with the farmers who have been camping at Delhi’s borders for over a month now demanding the repeal of the legislations.
Speaking to the media outside the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “incompetence” and for “destroying the system of agriculture”.
“I want to tell the Prime Minister that these farmers are not going to go back home until the laws are repealed. The government should convene a joint session of Parliament and take back the laws.
“We took crores of signatures… the voices of farmers. The PM will have to listen to them. The entire country is watching. It is cold, and the farmers are suffering, dying. I am warning you. Nobody can stand against the farmers,” Gandhi said.
Besides Priyanka, K C Venugopal, Randeep Singh Surjewala and several other senior leaders were detained for violating prohibitory orders. The police the permission was granted only for the three leaders to meet the president.
Tomar, however, lashed out at Rahul Gandhi and said even the Congress did not take him seriously. “Whatever Rahul Gandhi says, even Congress doesn’t take it seriously. Today when he went to register his protest with President with signatures, these farmers told me that no one from Congress came to get their signature,” Tomar was further quoted as saying.
The Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, whose party’s support is vital for the ruling BJP to survive in the state, on Thursday said the new central farm laws need many amendments and urged protesting farmers to give “concrete suggestions”.
The Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader reiterated that he would tender his resignation the day he felt he was unable to ensure minimum support price (MSP) to farmers in Haryana.
Addressing a press conference, Chautala said, “I believe that many amendments should be there. On this, we have given many suggestions to the Centre earlier and they too were agreeable on many suggestions.”
“I think the Centre is ready to incorporate those amendments,” he added. At another point in the briefing, Chautala said the Centre was repeatedly inviting the farmer unions to talks, and it was the responsibility of these outfits to give “concrete suggestions” regarding their demands.
He hoped that the protesting farmers resume dialogue with the Centre to resolve their concerns over the three new laws.
The Kerala cabinet on Thursday again decided to recommend to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan seeking approval for a special Assembly session on December 31 to discuss and pass a resolution against the three central farm laws, against which farmers have been protesting near Delhi. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the media about the cabinet decision and said his government was “hopeful” that the Governor would accord sanction for the special session. The governor had earlier rejected a similar request for a special session on December 23.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice chairman and AAP Delhi Assembly member Raghav Chadha on Thursday claimed that BJP workers vandalised his office and attacked staff members at the board’s headquarters at Jhandewalan in Delhi because of the party’s support to the agitating farmers. The chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also called the attack “shameful” and said the AAP would not be cowed down by such a cowardice act.
The BJP, however, rejected the allegations saying the attack was orchestrated by the AAP.
