Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border protest site, farmer leaders warned of multiple actions if their main demands are not met. They said that only five per cent of the issues raised by them have so far been discussed in meetings with the government.
Standing by his cycle, the 36-year-old from Punjab Moga's district said he could have taken a bus or a train to Delhi, but that could mean his family would have to go hungry.
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border on Sunday, said he will return his Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award if the Centre's new farm laws are not withdrawn.
Earlier, Rajnath and Shah were leading deliberations among Union ministers to resolve the issues raised by the agitating farmers.
The Congress leader also accused the Central government of lying on national television.
Some groups of farmers started going back to their respective sit-in sites on Tuesday evening after hours of chaos during their tractor parade against the farm laws, but thousands of other protesters were still in several areas, including ITO, Nangloi and Mukarba Chowk, of the national capital.
In a statement, the SKM, an umbrella body of 40 farmers' unions, said the struggle will continue to get all demands of the protesting farmers fulfilled and all announced plans are underway.
A farmer union leader alleged that the National Investigation Agency is filing cases against those who are part of the protest or supporting it.
From carrying portraits of their sons and husbands who have committed suicide due to agrarian distress to picketing to doing sewa 24x7 at langars, women have shown a rare determination not to capitulate before the government.
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.
Farmer leader Kanwalpreet Singh Pannu said that thousands of farmers will start their 'Delhi Chalo' march from Rajasthan's Shahjahanpur through the Jaipur-Delhi Highway at 11 am on Sunday.
To maintain law and order during the farmers' tractor parade, thousands of security personnel had been deployed at several border points.
Tikait said the government should "release our men and prepare an environment conducive for talks".
'This confrontation could have been avoided by a less arrogant administration that initially listened, used whatever negotiating skills they had and tried to be more credible,' observes Ramesh Menon.
Farmer leaders on Monday started their day-long hunger strike against the Centre's new farm laws and said protests will be held at all district headquarters later in the day, even as more people are expected to join the ongoing agitation at Delhi border points.
The central government on Thursday sent a formal letter to the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) agreeing to accept their pending demands and prompting the farmers' body to suspend their over a yearlong agitation.
The crucial tenth round of meeting with 41 farm unions is scheduled for Tuesday. The talks have failed to yield any concrete results as the agitating unions have stuck to their main demand for repealing the agri laws and the government has ruled out any such step.
The Centre's retreat from the farm laws is likely to have a significant bearing on the fate of laws that the Centre has made, for instance, in labour and electricity, predicts A K Bhattacharya.
The deceased were identified as Shamsher Singh (around 45 years of age), a resident of Lidhra village in Punjab's Sangrur district, Jashandeep Singh (18), a resident of Chauke village in Punjab's Bathinda district, and Jagbir Singh (60), a resident of Jind in Haryana, the police said.
Addressing a press conference at Singhu Border in New Delhi, farmer leader Balbeer Singh Rajewal said that farmers never demanded the Supreme Court form a committee to resolve the impasse, alleging the central government was behind this development.
Farmers from across the states arrived at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Monday early morning protesting over unemployment.
Security remained tight at the Delhi borders with hundreds of personnel deployed at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri where the farmers have been camping.
"Our call of tractor march to Parliament still stands. A final decision on the future course of the agitation and MSP issues will be taken in a meeting of the SKM at Singhu Border on Sunday," farmer leader and SKM core committee member Darshan Pal told PTI on Saturday.
'It is quite clear that the agitation against the farm laws is against the Centre and they will try to create all hurdles they can in that. They are using all tactics as their sole purpose is to defeat the agitation'
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.
"Stop dreaming of opening the borders," Chaduni told the government while addressing a "Kisan Mahapanchayat" at Kurukshetra's Ismailabad, adjoining Punjab's Patiala district.
'The home minister has made it clear that the government will not repeal the laws. Shah-ji said the government will give tomorrow in writing the amendments which the government is keen to. We will decide about attending the meeting after discussing the written amendments with all 40 farmer unions'
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha will collect data on such missing persons and the matter will be taken up with the authorities for formal action. Any information on missing persons can be shared on phone number 8198022033, it added.
Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal has given special permission for demonstration by a maximum of 200 farmers at Jantar Mantar, a few metres from the Parliament Complex, till August 9.
The body alleged that a religious colour is being given to their movement.
The crowd at the protest sites in Delhi's Singhu and Tikri borders was visibly thin on Thursday two days after the tractor parade turned violent, even though the farmer unions said it was because the protesters, who had come to the national capital to take part in January 26 march, have returned home.
'On January 22, when the last round of talks took place, the farmer leaders were told by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar that the government is also prepared.' 'And they did this.'
Families of farmers along with fellow villagers at many places in Punjab, which had once remained the epicentre of the farmers' agitation, will prepare 'ladoos', 'jalebis', 'barfi' and other sweets to welcome them, farmer leaders said.
Farmer leaders said they will not let the "sacrifice" of farmers in this fight against the "black laws" go in vain.
In separate letters in Hindi to Modi and Tomar, the AIKSCC said that the government is wrong in assuming that the farmers' agitation against the three farm laws is being engineered by opposition parties.
Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal are realising that it is not a cakewalk to run a full state that is plagued with a fiscal deficit and where emotions run high at the drop of a hat, observes Sudhir Bisht.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate further declined to 1.45 per cent.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances