The Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) will on Saturday hold dharnas outside the residences of three senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Punjab on the fifth day of the farmers' protest over their various demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP).
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday seeking immediate resumption of talks with the government over their six demands, including a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for all farmers.
The announcement came after the protesting farmers received a letter from the central government, with promises of forming a committee on minimum support price (MSP) and withdrawing cases against them immediately.
Not carrying weapons, following fixed routes and entering Delhi with tractors sans trolleys, were among the several conditions set by farmer leaders and police that were violated by participants of the tractor parade in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Sanyukt Kisan Morcha said the move is aimed at further strengthening and expanding the farmers' agitation which began in November last year.
The Supreme Court on Friday ordered immediate medical aid for farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is on an indefinite fast at the Punjab-Haryana border. The court also urged farmers to adopt the Gandhian way of protesting and to ensure that Dallewal's life is saved. The court has formed a high-powered committee to make recommendations to the stakeholders regarding the farmers' grievances.
'Fifteen days ago, we were only talking of Ayodhya. Now we are talking about farmers.'
The government said in an order that mobile internet services would be banned in Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa districts.
A panel of Union ministers will hold a fourth round of talks with farmer leaders in Chandigarh on Sunday over their demands, including loan waiver and bringing an ordinance on giving legal guarantee to a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
Referring to an action against farmers by the security personnel deployed by the Haryana authorities at the Punjab-Haryana border, Pandher slammed paramilitary personnel for using "force" against farmers, leaving many injured.
As the farmers prepare to leave their protest sites on Delhi's borders on Saturday after the government repealed the farm laws and acceded to their other demands, many say they will reinstall their tents in their villages as a symbol of their long, arduous struggle.
The body alleged that a religious colour is being given to their movement.
Farmers from various parts of the country are protesting at Delhi borders against the three farm laws brought by the Centre, alleging that the legislations will hamper farming.
Farmers will observe June 5 as 'Sampoorna Kranti Divas' by burning copies of the central farm laws in front of the offices of BJP MPs and MLAs to mark the day when these legislations were initially promulgated as ordinances last year, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha said.
The Punjab Police chief, Gaurav Yadav, and a senior officer from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mayank Mishra, visited fasting farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal at the Khanauri border point between Punjab and Haryana. They enquired about his health and heard his demands. Dallewal has been on a fast-unto-death since November 26 to press the Centre to accept the agitating farmers' demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP on crops. The visit came after the Supreme Court directed the Centre and Punjab government representatives to meet Dallewal and provide him medical help.
A 21-year-old farmer was killed and a few others injured following a clash between security personnel and protesting farmers at Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border.
The SKM also gave a call for a 'rail roko' agitation across the country from 10 am to 4 pm on October 18 and a 'mahapanchayat' in Lucknow on October 26.
Modi said, "The Karnataka government was indifferent...it did not care about the benefits that a farmer can get from the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana."
The farmers also marched along the ambulance and demanded action against those who are responsible for his death.
He requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make an announcement that the farm loans would be waived, while a mechanism for the same could be worked out later.
Farmer unions Monday announced a countrywide 'chakka jam' on February 6 when they would block national and state highways for three hours in protest against the internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues.
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.
The BJP may be in the Opposition in many states, but nowhere is it as divided as it is in Karnataka, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Fifty-seven farmer organisations have supported the call given by the SKM, Yadav said.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the five-member committee to convene its first meeting within a week and reach out to the agitating farmers to persuade them to immediately remove their tractors, trolleys etc from the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana to provide relief to commuters.
Observing that there is a trust deficit between farmers and the government, the Supreme Court on Wednesday proposed constitution of an independent committee comprising eminent persons to reach out to the protesters to find a solution to their demands.
Electoral politics is going to be an important part of farmer protests going forward.
He further stated that other details regarding the same will be disclosed after a meeting scheduled to take place on November 26, which marks the first anniversary of the farmers' protest against the three farm laws, the repeal of which was recently announced by the Centre earlier this month.
'Let me assure the nation on behalf of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha that our protests have not weakened at all or lost steam.'
Delhi Police has given permission to the farmers to hold their 'Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat' with the condition of gathering not exceeding to 5,000, no tractor trolleys, no march at the Ramlila Maidan, and made elaborate security arrangements that may lead to a heavy traffic jam in the national capital on March 14, officials on Wednesday said.
'Why shouldn't we talk against the BJP when it is solely responsible for bringing in these three laws by riding rough over Parliamentary procedures and norms?' 'We will talk against the BJP because it is the sole political party responsible for pushing these destructive farm laws'
The talks between the two sides have not resumed following the widespread violence during a tractor rally by the protesting farmers on January 26.
Due to a 'Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat' convened by farmers at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Thursday, the Delhi Police has beefed up security and deployed heavy force for checking vehicles, which might lead to traffic snarls in the central parts of the city, officials said.
Modi slammed the opposition alleging they "remember farmers once in 10 years -- just before elections".
The farmer leader said that the government's attitude in considering farmers' demands has been "positive" lately and hinted towards a positive decision in connection with the fate of the farmers' movement.
The letter by 'Sanyukt Kisan Morcha', which represents farmer bodies mostly from Punjab, comes against the backdrop of the government holding talks with several farmers organisations from different states who the Centre claimed have extended their support to the new agriculture laws.
Known for delivering time-bound results, Sharma earned Modi's confidence as his secretary during his tenure as the Gujarat chief minister by successfully handling the Vibrant Gujarat campaign to get investments to the state.
A team of three Union ministers will hold talks on Monday with a delegation of farmer leaders, who are planning to march towards Delhi to press for their demands.
Tikait says PM Modi was supporter of MSP law when he was CM
Haryana is witnessing a multi-cornered contest this time, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party facing anti-incumbency and a resurgent Congress.
