Several farmer organisations in India are protesting the proposed India-US trade deal, expressing concerns about its impact on the agriculture sector and demanding the resignation of the Commerce Minister.
Trade unions have decided to launch a phased, consistent struggle to press for the withdrawal of the labour codes and go on a countrywide general strike in February next year, a statement said on Tuesday. The date of the strike will be announced on 22nd December 2025 in the next meeting of the joint forum of central trade unions, a statement said.
The elections to 32 assembly constituencies in Sikkim were held simultaneously with the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 19.
Over 25 crore workers across India are set to strike against new labour codes and privatisation, potentially disrupting banking, postal, and other essential services.
Ahead of their planned protest in Chandigarh on March 5, several Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders were detained in early morning raids at their residences on Tuesday and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann denounced the agitating farmer unions, saying they have turned Punjab into a 'state of dharnas' and caused huge losses to it.
Punjab Police thwarted farmers' attempt to go to Chandigarh on the Samyukta Kisan Morcha's call for a week-long dharna beginning Wednesday, as multiple checkpoints were set up across the state and security stepped up at all entry points of the Union Territory.
Social activist Yogendra Yadav has resigned from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha coordination committee but said he will remain a 'soldier' of the farmers' collective.
'They have no chance of winning if free and fair polls are conducted.'
Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal has ended his hunger strike which he began on November 26, 2022, to press for various demands of agitating farmers including a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops. The announcement came after appeals from Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu. Dallewal said he would continue to fight for the MSP guarantee and other demands.
In the months of May, June and July, state and district level conventions of the SKM shall be held in every state/UT to galvanise and organise farmers and farm workers, it said.
A statement issued on Monday by the umbrella body of farmers' unions protesting against the central farm laws, reiterated earlier 'ultimatum about October 11 being the deadline for the sacking and arrest of Ajay Mishra Teni'.
Centre's move to form a 29-member panel on making the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism effective and keeping three positions vacant in it for SKM representatives has triggered strong disapproval from it.
Fifty-seven farmer organisations have supported the call given by the SKM, Yadav said.
Another farmer leader and SKM member said the agitation is likely to be called off on Wednesday as there have been some positive responses from the government side on the farmers' demands.
Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who was on an indefinite hunger strike in support of various demands, has broken his fast after the Punjab government intervened and dispersed protesting farmers at Khanauri and Shambhu borders. The Supreme Court lauded Dallewal's efforts and acknowledged the government's action, while also asking for a status report on the situation. Contempt proceedings against the Punjab chief secretary and Director General of Police for not complying with the court's order of providing medical aid to Dallewal were dropped.
The SKM also gave a call for observing a nationwide 'Day of Betrayal' on January 31 against what it called the government's reneging on its assurances to the farmers on their demands, including legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) of crops.
Farmers from different parts of Uttar Pradesh demanding adequate compensation for their lands acquired by the government marched towards Delhi on Monday but were stopped at the Noida-Delhi border where they sat on a dharna.
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.
In a statement, the SKM, an umbrella body of 40 farmers' unions, said the struggle will continue to get all demands of the protesting farmers fulfilled and all announced plans are underway.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Wednesday said that a consensus has been reached over a revised draft proposal of the Centre on their pending demands and it will now meet on Thursday to decide the future course of the movement, even as its leaders demanded a formal communication on government letterhead.
To observe one year of the movement against the Centre's three agri laws, 500 farmers will participate in a peaceful tractor march to Parliament every day during winter session starting November 29, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha said on Tuesday.
The central government on Thursday sent a formal letter to the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) agreeing to accept their pending demands and prompting the farmers' body to suspend their over a yearlong agitation.
SKM won 31 of the 32 assembly seats in the polls which occurred simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections.
Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang on Monday called on Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya and submitted a resolution passed by newly-elected MLAs of Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) electing him as their legislature party leader to stake claim to form the next government, an official said.
Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) supremo Prem Singh Tamang on Monday took oath as the chief minister of the Himalayan state for the second consecutive term.
It also said that the SKM will take note of all developments and will hold its meeting soon and announce further decisions.
Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a 70-year-old Punjab farmer leader, is on his 21st day of a hunger strike demanding the Indian government address farmers' concerns, including a legal guarantee of MSP on crops. His health has deteriorated, and doctors have recommended immediate hospitalization. However, Dallewal, a cancer patient, has refused medical treatment.
In a statement, the SKM alleged that the government had not fulfilled any of the promises, including setting up a committee on minimum support price and withdrawal of cases against protesters, made to the farmers.
The morcha claimed that the response to the bandh call was 'more widespread than before' and nearly all opposition political parties extended an unconditional support to it.
Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a farmer leader, is on an indefinite hunger strike that has entered its 34th day. The Supreme Court has criticized the Punjab government for not shifting Dallewal to a hospital, while farmer leaders have said they are following Gandhian principles and it is up to the government to decide whether to use force to evict him. The farmers are protesting for several demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. The protests have reached a decisive stage, with the SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha calling for a Punjab bandh on Monday.
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.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions, has organised protests in different states on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the farmers' movement against three central farm laws.
Ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states in the assembly byelection results declared on Saturday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies wresting seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress sweeping West Bengal.
'These include economic prosperity, a promising future for youth, empowerment for women, a thriving society, robust healthcare, quality education, elevated living standards, agricultural prosperity, and robust social security coupled with effective governance.'
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha has suspended its November 29 tractor march to Parliament and it will hold a meeting next month to decide its future course of action, farmer leaders said on Saturday.
The SKM, founded in 2013, won a slender majority in the 32-member legislative assembly by bagging 17 seats against 15 won by the Sikkim Democratic Front.
The body alleged that a religious colour is being given to their movement.
Punjab farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Saturday that they have not received any message from the Centre for talks to address their issues and said a group of 101 farmers will again begin their march to Delhi on December 8.
A 'jatha' of 101 farmers will embark on a foot march to Delhi at 1 pm on Friday from the Shambhu border protest site, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Thursday.
The committee, headed by former agriculture secretary Sanjay Agrawal, discussed ways to "promote zero budget based farming", to "change" crop patterns keeping in mind the changing needs of the country, and to make MSP more "effective and transparent".
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