During the meeting, which came in the backdrop of Gandhi's fierce attack on the Prime Minister over demonetisation, top Congress leaders presented a memorandum to Modi on demands of farmers including loan waiver, reducing power bills to half and remunerative MSP for farm produce.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented the Budget for 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha that is expected to provide relief to the pandemic-hit common man as well as focus more on driving economic recovery through higher spending on healthcare, infrastructure and defence amid rising tensions with neighbours, As India emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the ninth Budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.
The West Bengal on Thursday became the sixth state to pass a resolution against the three contentious farm laws enacted by the Centre, even as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party staged a walkout from the assembly amid 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans.
Tractors carried the flags of the unions, some sported the tricolour, and also posters with slogans of 'Kisan Ekta Zindabad', 'No Farmer, No Food' and 'Kaale Kanoon Radd Karo'.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday urged dialogue between the protesting farmers and the Centre while addressing a meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party office-bearers, during which he also invoked the border clashes with China and the construction of the Ram temple.
Shetti said the SSS had committed a "grave mistake" by extending support to the NDA.
Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary also said the government is always ready for talks but it is up to farmer unions to decide whether they want to go ahead with the scheduled ninth round of talks on January 15.
Farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar, who is a member of Sankyukt Kisan Morcha, said on Sunday that farmers have waterproof tents but they cannot protect them from biting cold and waterlogging.
Acreage of these crops is likely to fall as prices drop below MSP in mandis; area under cotton, maize may increase on better realisation
The sharp drop in prices couldn't have come at a more difficult time, particularly for the two big producing states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, and also neighbouring Chhattisgarh as the states go to polls in the next few months.
"The space for dissent and debate is shrinking. People are jailed without trial through arbitrarily imposed charge of sedition," the Nobel laureate alleged.
Kisan Mazdoor Sangh (KMS) and Kisan Sena (KS) made a representation, which also included a demand for strengthening the dispute resolution system in case of any trouble in contract farming.
The farmer leaders insist that the crowd is merely shifting from one spot to another to mobilise more people to join the movement.
Modi also attacked the Congress for charging him with corruption in the Rafale deal.
"People forgot about income for farmers. But for the first time, this thinking has been changed," he said and listed steps the Centre has taken for the welfare of farmers.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that he held a "good discussion" with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on many important issues, including on the two nations' commitment to democratic principles, recent protests, and the importance of resolving issues through dialogue.
Opposition parties, when they were in power, were in favour of these farm sector reforms, but did not take any decision back then, Modi said.
Emotions ran high as the farmers performed ardas (prayers) and havan to thank the almighty and started their 'victory march' from Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur protest sites to Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in convoys of tractors, bedecked with colourful flowers and lights and blaring songs of jubilation.
Farmers had threatened to block other roads of Delhi in the coming days if the new agriculture laws are not scrapped soon.
Experts said many of the programmes started in the last one year have been dogged by poor implementation, something which the state seriously needs to answer as it faces a tough electoral battle in the months ahead.
He asserted that the government purchase of farm produce will remain, adding that the mechanism of minimum support price will continue in the same way it always has.
The move comes amid reports that new wheat crop prices in Madhya Pradesh, which is one the biggest growing state has fallen to below the MSP of Rs 1,625 per 100 kilograms due to bumper harvest.
Farmers started the tractor march around 11 am and moved towards Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway amid heavy deployment of Delhi Police and Haryana Police personnel.
State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Rajnish Kumar, in conversation with Abhijit Lele, also says that the overhang of corporate debt stress will begin to recede in the next two-three quarters.
27-year-old Poojan Sahil who created the song can't be happier at its acceptance and success. The video of the song has almost 2.7 lakh views on YouTube in less than a week and is being widely shared across social media platforms.
The fund allocated for pulses buffer is more than 40% of entire farm ministry's 2016-17 budget.
'Modi came out with this huge announcement that he has given a historic price rise to farmers.' 'It was actually a fake price. He did not give the price mentioned in the BJP's election manifesto.' 'So, Modi gave an incomplete price rise and publicised it as if he has completed his job.' ''This government has surely proved that it does not care about farmers in any way.'
The BJP's manifesto speaks about the Prime Minister's vision of making 'Atmanirbhar Bihar'.
A meeting convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday afternoon will see the leaders of around 20 opposition parties come together on a common platform through video-conferencing.
Addressing the members of the House, Singh said agriculture is a state subject but the Centre ignored it. "I find it very strange what the government of India wants to do," he said.
'The question often being asked is whether the demand for petrol and diesel is price inelastic?' asks Arun Balakrishnan, former chairman and managing director, Hindustan Petroleum.
With Pawar backing farmers' protest against the contentious agri reforms, government sources on Sunday pointed out that as the agriculture minister in the UPA dispensation he had asked chief ministers to amend the APMC Act in their states to allow the private sector to play an important role in the field.
Badal said the farmers are waging a bitter struggle in the severe cold just to secure their fundamental right to life.
Without naming the Congress, he said the frustration of a party, which ruled for four generations, was at the root of this politics of opposition for opposition's sake.
One lakh copies of the three agri laws were burnt at the Singhu border alone, said Paramjeet Singh of Samyukta Kisan Morcha.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting that lasted for little over two hours, Tomar said the government is still hopeful that union leaders will come with alternatives to discuss in the next round of talks on January 15.
The wedding took which took place today morning was attended by a lot of people from the Telugu film industry.
Some say the MPC will raise the rate, while others are of the view that there is already de facto interest rate tightening through rising bond yields, which might prompt the central bank to go for a pause.
Chand pointed out that the government is willing to discuss the three farm laws clause by clause, and farmer leaders should consider this offer.
The police on Saturday detained the Aam Aadmi Party Member of Parliament Bhagwant Mann and several party workers ahead of a farmers' meeting at Doliya in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat.
