Enthused by higher than expected GDP numbers in the fourth quarter of 2022-23, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran on Wednesday said India's economic growth may exceed the initial estimate of 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal and the country can look for another year of solid economic performance.
The agitating farmers had earlier said they would picket toll plazas to press their demand for a repeal of the three new laws, which were voted through in Parliament in September amid strong protests by opposition parties.
'Nehru wanted to strengthen industries by exploiting agriculture and that policy was continued by successive governments.'
Modi hit out at deleterious influences from abroad, referring to them as 'foreign destructive ideology', as well as a new "breed" of agitators -- 'Andolan-jivi' -- in the country who cannot live without a tumult.
'The farm bills will not bring in corporate zamindari'
The delegation, led by Bharatiya Kisan Union's (Mann) Haryana state leader Guni Prakash, submitted a 'letter of support' to Tomar on the farm laws passed by Parliament in September and demanded the government to continue with these legislations.
'Had these three farm laws existed it would have become a huge election issue.'
The Congress on Sunday gave a call to party leaders in poll-bound states to work with unity to ensure victory that will 'set the tone' for 2024 Lok Sabha polls even as it showed willingness to forge an alliance of 'like-minded' parties.
Tomar discussed with Singh 'all possible options' to find a 'middle path' to resolve the crisis, sources added. Singh, who served as agriculture minister in the erstwhile Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet, has emerged as a key troubleshooter and is working mostly behind the scenes on this issue.
The minister said that the last meeting held on December 30, 2020, happened in a cordial atmosphere and there is a possibility of positive results in the interest of farmers and of the country's farm sector at the next meeting.
Rashtriya Loktantrik Party convenor and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal on Saturday announced a split from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance over the Centre's new farm laws.
The report admits that converting MSP to a floor price of auction on the eNAM portal will not completely solve the problem as the current data shows that average modal prices in e-NAM mandis is lower than the minimum support price in all commodities except urad.
The Delhi Police later said they detained AAP MP Bhagwant Mann and over a hundred protesting workers after 'they started getting agitated'. Addressing his party workers from Punjab at the protest, Kejriwal said the AAP has a very clear stance on the farm laws.
Before bidding farewell to Singhu, some farmers performed havans and sang kirtans, and some danced to bhangra songs to mark the day as 'Vijay Diwas'.
Electoral politics is going to be an important part of farmer protests going forward.
Responding to the NCP leader's remarks, Tomar said Pawar, who is a veteran leader, is also considered well-versed with the issues and solutions relating to agriculture. "Pawar himself tried hard to bring the same agriculture reforms earlier."
During the last few meetings, farmer leaders have been arranging their own lunch, snacks and beverages while refusing to have the food organised by the government.
The minister noted that while there is an agitation going on one side, there are also lakhs of farmers coming in support of these laws.
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.
Without directly referring to the farmers' agitation, which entered the 17th day on Saturday, Modi said agriculture reforms as part of government efforts are aimed at removing roadblocks, and the new laws will also bring in technology and investment in the sector.
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.
The government and farm unions had reached some common ground on Wednesday to resolve protesting farmers' concerns over rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning.
Security remained tight at the Delhi borders with hundreds of personnel deployed at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri as thousands of farmers have been staging their protests at the borders for nearly a month now. This has also led to traffic congestion forcing police to divert vehicular movement.
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.
Kejriwal asks Centre to shun "arrogance" and scrap three farm laws as demanded by agitating farmers.
Extended rounds of negotiations having failed, farm leaders now reckon that their best chance to pressure the government lay in defeating the BJP in the coming assembly poll, particularly in UP, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Three union ministers -- Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce and Industries Som Prakash -- will hold discussions again with 40 farmer unions' leaders, including the Bharatiya Kisan Union which is spearheading the protests.
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.
'Prime Minister Modi stated several times that we shall not let this challenge go away without converting it into an opportunity to undertake systemic reforms.' 'And hasn't that been reiterated in action?'
Sources said they discussed and finalised the government's position for the Wednesday meeting.
The sixth round of talks between the government and farm union leaders, which was scheduled for Wednesday morning, has been cancelled. According to the union leaders, a new 'Delhi chalo' (march to Delhi)' call is being given to all farmers in the north India for December 14, while those in the South will be asked to protest at district headquarters.
Bhupesh Baghel said about his father that he respected his father as a son, but as a chief minister, none of his mistakes that will disturb public order can be ignored.
The minister also hoped that a resolution should be reached before the year ends and asserted that the Modi government is committed to address all genuine concerns of the farming community.
In a statement in Hindi, she said governments and their leaders who ignore public sentiments in a democracy cannot govern for long and it is now quite clear that the protesting farmers will not bow in the face of the Centre's policy of 'tire and pushover'.
Sibal said the BJP always tries to gain a foothold in states where its presence is limited and afterwards "dumps" its allies.
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 new bill will now be introduced in the Lok Sabha for passage in the upcoming Winter session of Parliament beginning November 29.
The seventh round of talks between protesting unions and three central ministers ended inconclusively on Monday as the farmer leaders insisted on the repeal of the three contentious farm laws right from the beginning, even as the government listed various benefits from the Acts.
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 farmers' acceptance of the proposal came hours after the Centre sent them a letter suggesting December 30 as the date for the dialogue, against December 29 the protesting unions wanted.
