The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea filed by residents of Sonipat seeking opening of the roads connecting Delhi and Haryana at Singhu border here, which have been blocked by farmers protesting against three agri laws and asked the petitioners to approach the High Court.
Yogendra Yadav said the decision to defer the march was taken over a forecast of bad weather conditions on Wednesday.
He maintained that the laws were for their benefit and then apologised to people of the country, adding that the government could not convince a section of farmers despite its clear heart and clean conscience.
The agriculture ministry also reiterated it is ready to find a "logical solution" to the issues raised by protesting farmer unions.
British lawmakers will debate the issue of press freedom and safety of protesters in India next Monday in response to an e-petition which had crossed the 1,00,000-signature threshold required for such a debate, the House of Commons Petitions Committee had confirmed earlier this week.
In Srinagar, wearing black bands, scores of PDP leaders and activists, led by party president Mehbooba Mufti, took out a protest march from the party's head office near the Sher-e-Kashmir Park.
Farmers said the government should have formed a committee of farmers and others before the laws were enacted by Parliament.
Asserting that "the BJP first set Hindus against Muslims", Badal said the party has "become the most powerful divisive force", out to "replay its evil game in Punjab".
Likening Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the character of an arrogant king, 'ahankari raja', from stories of yore, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said he is unable to understand that the 'jawan' who has kept the country safe is also the son of a farmer.
36 Union ministers will visit different districts in both the divisions of the Union Territory starting from January 18 to January 24 and the home ministry is coordinating it, the sources said.
The number of protesters swelled at Delhi border points on Wednesday. Police stepped up security after thousands blocked key gateways into the national capital for the seventh day on the trot, leaving commuters facing a harrowing time.
Modi had clearly not come to terms with the limits to a prime minister's powers, any prime minister's powers however strong numbers he may have in Parliament, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Eleven rounds of talks have been held over the contentious farm laws but the impasse continues as the farmer unions remain firm on their demands -- the repeal of the three laws and legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price.
During the meeting, the leadership of the India Caucus, which is the largest country-specific caucus in the House of Representatives, condemned the violence on January 26 in Delhi.
The farmer representatives were unanimous in seeking repeal of the 3 laws.
As cracks began to appear in their ongoing agitation against the agri laws, farmer unions on Wednesday cancelled their planned march to Parliament on February 1 when the Budget would be presented.
Several 'khaps' of Haryana are set to join farmers' tractor parade in Delhi on the Republic Day with thousands of these vehicles leaving various caste councils' villages for the national capital on Sunday.
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'.
In a second ceasefire violation in less than 24 hours, Pakistani troops Tuesday fired at Indian posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
'If banging thalis could drive corona as Modi said, banging thalis will drive away the farm laws.'
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.
There is no protest yet on Delhi's borders with Gurgaon and at other points of National Highway-8 that connects the national capital with Jaipur, a senior police officer said.
"They did business of temple, religion and feelings. Now, they want to do the business on hunger," Tikait alleged.
Tikait claimed a few inputs had been received regarding some "miscreants trying to disrupt peace" during the "chakka jam" that was announced for 12 noon to 3 pm on Saturday.
The national capital is expected to continue receiving moderate rainfall with some isolated intense spells for the next 24 hours, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday.
Violating the ceasefire yet again, Pakistani troops on Thursday targeted Indian posts with small arms fire to give cover fire to a group of infiltrating militants along the Line of Control in Poonch district.
Addressing a press conference, farmer leader Darshan Pal Singh said their proposed parade will be called "Kisan Parade" and it will be be held after the Republic Day parade.
The unions said the minimum support price (MSP) cannot be separated from the demand of repealing the contentious agriculture laws, asserting that the issue of a legal guarantee for the MSP is a key part of their agitation.
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.
Going firm on their demand for repeal of the new agri laws, hundreds of farmers spent another night in the cold and withstood an early morning drizzle on Thursday on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border at their heavily-secured protest site at Ghazipur.
The protest by farmers at the Delhi border points entered the sixth day and is set to continue as the critical talks between three Union ministers and farmer groups ended in a stalemate on Tuesday after they rejected the government's suggestion of a new committee to look into issues raised by agitating farmers.
We are ready to talk but will not accept any condition now," said a farmer's leader.
Good news for economically-weaker sections (EOS) in Delhi. The city government Wednesday decided to built around 35,000 flats for them which are likely to be ready in two years.
The dilemma is that if farming is to be efficient, farmers will be worse off -- and if farmers are to be better off farming will be worse off, reveals T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
The fifth round of talks was held on December 5, while the sixth round originally scheduled for December 9 was called off after an informal meeting of Home Minister Shah with some union leaders failed to reach any breakthrough.
With the talks between the Centre and the agitating farmer unions stalled since January, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday expressed readiness to resume the dialogue to resolve their objections to the three new agri laws, but the unions remained adamant on their demands for a repeal of the legislations and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price.
For these women, who describe themselves as homemakers, farmworkers and protesters all rolled into one, any suggestion that farmers are about being alpha males because it requires physical labour is met with scorn.
"They have put these barbed wires, not us. They are not allowing people to come to Delhi. We are not the one blocking the roads. If we block roads, they ask us to vacate, but no action is taken when the same is done by these security forces," said.
'The PM cannot give a single reason why farmers should trust him.'
Participating in the discussion on the Motion on Thanks to President's Address to the joint sitting of Parliament, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress member Ghulam Nabi Azad suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself should make the announcement on repeal of the laws. Modi was present in the House at the time.
