Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday squarely blamed those with political agenda for the deadlock in the Centre's talks with protesting farmers.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions, has organised protests in different states on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the farmers' movement against three central farm laws.
Labh Singh, who runs a salon in Kurukshetra, has put up a stall a Singhu border and is providing free service to the protesting farmers. He has come with five workers.
'I was posted in different states of the country. We are also the son of a farmer. I come here as a farmer'
Sixty-eight people have died due to varied reasons while protesting against the Centre's farm laws at the state borders with Delhi, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij told the Assembly in Chandigarh on Monday.
Olympic medallist boxer Vijender Singh, who joined the farmers' agitation at the Haryana-Delhi border on Sunday, said he will return his Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award if the Centre's new farm laws are not withdrawn.
The Congress leader also accused the Central government of lying on national television.
Amid the ongoing protest against the new farm laws, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday asked the farmers to keep their tractors ready stating that they may have to reach the national capital anytime.
Taking to Twitter, the Delhi chief minister said peaceful demonstration was a constitutional right of the farmers.
Singh noted that opposition members tore rule book, threw papers at the desk of the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who was in the Chair, and climbed the officials' table -- something, he added, he had never witnessed before.
After his statement, opposition leaders will speak and if required Singh may give a clarification, the sources said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday had a meeting with Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava, ahead of the 'chakka jam' announced by farmer unions protesting against the three agri laws at Delhi's borders, sources said.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday said that the family members of Navreet Singh, who died in an accident during the farmers' tractor rally in the national capital on Republic Day want a judicial inquiry into farmer's death.
A farmer union leader alleged that the National Investigation Agency is filing cases against those who are part of the protest or supporting it.
Tikait also said if the government continues to dismantle the resources, one day India will be known as 'Mazdoor colony' and only labour class (will be left) in the country.
'The government has adopted the policy of talking big in front of the media but in reality, nothing much has changed'
"It is certainly affected. As you know the border is closed. The customers are coming in lesser number than before and so is the supply of goods into the market. There is a lack of supply and also a lack of buyers," vegetable wholesaler, Sumer Singh Saini told ANI when asked whether the business in the market is affected due to the agitation.
Days after their passage in the Lok Sabha, Tomar introduced the Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 in the Rajya Sabha.
He also said that most of the farmers were "satisfied" with the steps taken by the central government, and added that their interests were "safe and secure" in its hands.
The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), a constituent of the ruling National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, has extended its support to the call for Bharat bandh on December 8 by farmer groups protesting against three recent farm sector laws.
During their last meeting on Thursday also, the farmer leaders had their own lunch, tea and even water.
The government's agenda also includes the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021.
To maintain law and order during the farmers' tractor parade, thousands of security personnel had been deployed at several border points.
Twitter on Wednesday suspended over 550 accounts from its platform in connection with the violence during the farmers' tractor rally in the national capital on the 72nd Republic Day.
The 'ghar wapsi' was marked with celebratory atmosphere at Ghazipur border, where protestors, chiefly members and supporters of the Tikait family-led Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), danced to patriotic and regional tunes hailing the farming community.
After over a year, the Singhu border, which was the epicentre of the farmers' agitation, now bears a deserted look with the last batch of demonstrators leaving for their home states on Monday.
The farmers lifted blockades on highways at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders and took out a 'Victory March' to celebrate the repeal of three contentious farm laws and the Centre's written assurance to fulfil their other demands, including constituting a committee for legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
As far as possible, investment in the agriculture sector must be from the government, and not the private sector, states Santushti Raj Thapar.
Addressing a public meeting in Badhni Kalan in Punjab's Moga district, Gandhi asserted that the contentious Acts would be revoked if the Congress was voted to power.
"The government is just giving empty promises due to which I do not have any trust left (in the government)... Let's see, what action the Centre takes on my demands. They have sought time for a month, so I have given them time till January-end. If my demands are not met, I will resume my huger strike protest. This would be my last protest," the 83-year-old said.
The spokesperson added that the review showed that only the Facebook page was affected by the automated systems while the Instagram account remained unaffected.
The MPs criticised the Shiromani Akali Dal leadership for being in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA even after these bills were proposed by the government.
On the completion of two years of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said his government ushered a historic increase in the minimum support price (MSP) for crops and was doing everything possible to double the income of farmers.
Some sportspersons of Punjab and Haryana have been returning their awards (Padma, Dronacharya, and Arjuna award ) in order to show solidarity with the farmers.
According to a police official, the incident occurred when Grover along with the local BJP leaders reached the temple complex as part of their plan to watch from there the live telecast of Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiling a statue of Adi Shankaracharya at the seer's rebuilt samadhi in Kedarnath.
The leaders neither spoke from the podium of the Kisan Sansad (farmers' parliament) nor were they seated on the dais.
Intelligence Bureau (IB) will interrogate actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu on Wednesday, who has been sent to seven-day police custody for his alleged role in the violence that took place at the Red Fort and other parts of the national capital on Republic Day, according to Delhi Police sources.
The Congress had on Friday extended support to the countrywide 'chakka jam' called by the farmer unions, saying party workers will stand shoulder to shoulder with farmers in their protest.
International pop star Rihanna teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg and others extended their support to farmers protesting on the borders of India's capital against the three agriculture laws introduced by the Central government last year and asked why people were not talking about it.
The deceased has been identified as Jai Bhagwan Rana (42), a resident of Pakasma village in Rohtak district of Haryana. He had consumed Sulphas tablets at the farmers' protest site at Tikri on Tuesday, they said.
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