With the protesting farmers staying put at the border point of the national capital for over six weeks now, a number of small business have sprung up at the site, the newest being sale of pro-protest badges and stickers.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has held a series of meetings with MPs and Union ministers from Punjab and Haryana and surrounding states, and virtual interactions with state agricultural ministers of all BJP-led National Democratic Alliance ruled states where he briefed them about the merits of the two bills, the sources said.
"No meeting will be held between farmers and the government tomorrow. The minister has said that a proposal will be given to the farmer leaders tomorrow (December 9). Farmer leaders will hold a meeting over government's proposal," Mollah had told the media on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference at a protest site on the Singhu border, they said the "super bandh" made the government open its 'eyes and ears'.
Rather than lose direction with the Karnal protest, farmers decided to focus more on UP to defeat the BJP in the forthcoming assembly elections there, reports Nitin Kumar.
"We are strengthening our communication and other infrastructure to continue the agitation for a long period," said Deep Khatri associated with managing logistics at the Singhu Border protest site.
The representatives of thousands of agitating farmers, who are sitting on various borders of the national capital since November 26 demanding repeal of the three agri laws, have said that the countrywide strike on Tuesday would be observed with full force.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha announced that toll collection will not be allowed in Rajasthan from February 12.
'We were among the first organisations to voice our opposition to the three Acts long before anyone else and had sent memorandums collected from 3,000 tehsils across the country to the agriculture ministry to amend the Bills, but nothing was accepted,' says BKS general secretary Badri Narayan Chaudhary.
Union minister of state (MoS) for home affairs Ajay Mishra Teni's son Ashish Mishra, who has been accused in Lakhimpur Kheri incident, has been sent to three-day police remand with conditions on Monday.
"The state-wide bandh will commence from 12 midnight," NCP spokesman and state minister Nawab Malik said on Sunday.
Hours after the macabre crime, a man wearing the blue robes of the Sikhs' Nihang order appeared before the media, claiming that he had 'punished' the victim for 'desecrating' a holy book.
Khattar had made the remark at a BJP Kisan Morcha meet, a video of which had surfaced on social media, with farmers bodies alleging that he was telling party supporters to "pick up sticks" against farmers protesting the Centre's agriculture laws.
After over four months, Union minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra was released from jail in Lakhimpur Kheri on Tuesday evening after fulfilling bail conditions pronounced by the Allahabad high court.
In a three-page letter written to 40 farmer leaders, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Vivek Aggarwal said, 'I again request you that the government has been discussing all issues with open heart and good intention to end the protest, and will continue to do so. Kindly suggest a date and time (for the next round of talks).'
On Thursday, the prime minister appreciated Tomar for 'attempting to have a polite dialogue' with the farmers through an open letter, requesting them to read it.
It was business as usual for agitating farmers at Singhu border on Wednesday as some were busy with langars while others listened to speeches of their leaders even as talks of the tractor rally that witnessed vandalism and violence a day before filled the air.
The tractor rally by farmers saw violence at several places in Delhi as protesters clashed with police and broke barricades. Protesters breached the Red Fort premises and waved flags they were carrying from its ramparts.
The Centre may pass any law undermining the Constitution and on the back of its majority, but once the common man and farmers rise, they will not keep quiet until the new farm acts and the ruling party are destroyed, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar said on Monday.
'Walking is the loudest statement.' 'When someone says, I control everything and no one can oppose me, there are thousands of people on the streets saying no, we oppose you -- this is a very bold statement.'
Two pleas were filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday over the tractor rally violence on Republic Day, with one seeking the setting up of a commission, headed by a retired apex court judge, to inquire into the incident, while the other urged it to direct the media not to declare farmers as "terrorist" without any evidence.
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For over three months, the three Delhi border points at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur have transformed into townships occupied by thousands of farmers from different parts of the country, mainly Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.
Pritam Singh, a resident of Akkanwali village of Mansa district, consumed the poisonous substance Friday morning and died at a hospital later in the day, they said.
The surge in wheat export from India owing to the Ukraine crisis has once again demonstrated how farmers in states that have flexible marketing frameworks and low taxes benefit more from an emerging situation. The bulk of the wheat exported from India, trade and industry sources say, is being sourced at rates significantly higher than the state-mandated price of Rs 2,015 per quintal in Madhya Pradesh (MP), Uttar Pradesh (UP), and Gujarat - states which have low mandi taxes compared to Punjab and Haryana. This is not only benefiting farmers there but could also lead to significant savings for the states in procurement costs in the months to come.
Under the scheme called Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, Rs 6,000 will be transferred into bank accounts of farmers holding up to 2 hectares of land in three equal instalments.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a forum comprising 40 farmer unions, called for a Bharat Bandh on Monday against the Centre's three agriculture laws. Here is its impact across the country:
The statement comes after videos and photos of workers removing the nails near Ghazipur border surfaced on social media.