Som Parkash, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, has said that the farmers should end their agitation and accept the Centre’s proposals as most of their demands were being met.
Senior BJP leaders from Punjab – Surjit Jiyani and Harjit Singh Grewal – who are working as mediators between the government and the protestors, have made it clear that the government was not going to repeal the laws at any cost but it is ready for amendments.
Meanwhile, efforts are being made to rope-in various leaders of ‘sleeping’ farmers’ unions to back the laws with an intention to create a split among the farmers and dilute their agitation.
A delegation of farmers from Uttarakhand met Agriculture Minister Narender Singh Tomar in New Delhi on Sunday and extended their support to the newly enacted three farm laws. Tomar thanked the farmers for supporting the laws. Talking to media persons, he said, “Farmers have understood the laws, expressed their views, and supported it.”
Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Kailash Choudhary and Uttarakhand Education Minister Arvind Pandey were also present at the meeting. Earlier, two delegations of farmers from Haryana, led by Bharatiya Kisan Union (Mann) leader Guni Prakash, met Tomar and extended their support to the new farm laws. The delegation also submitted a letter supporting the farm laws to Tomar, and said the government should continue with these legislations. They also threatened to start protests if the farm laws are repealed. They said that the ongoing farmers’ agitation is no longer a peasant movement.
