13:47 (IST)
Farmers Protest LATEST Updates
Singhu, Tikri, other key Delhi borders remain shut
Movement of traffic between Delhi and its two neighbouring states, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, remains disrupted as six borders are still completely closed because of the ongoing farmers’ agitation, reports the Hindustan Times. Besides this, two other key borders connecting the Capital with Uttar Pradesh are partially closed.
13:38 (IST)
Farmers Protest LATEST Updates
Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala to meet PM today
Facing heat over the ongoing six-week-long farmers’ agitation, Haryana’s Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day to possibly discuss issues related to the protest.
Chautala is the leader of Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) which is an alliance partner in the BJP-led government in Haryana. A section of JJP MLAs is believed to have been facing pressure from the agitating farmers.
In a statement, the JJP said Dushyant Chautala will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
Chautala, along with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday.
13:29 (IST)
Farmers Protest LATEST Updates
After SC intervention, farmers should withdraw protest: Punjab BJP president
Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma on Tuesday appealed to agitating farmers to call off their protest after the Supreme Court’s decision to set up a four-member panel to look into farmers’ grievances.
The Punjab BJP chief also welcomed the apex court’s decision to form the panel to resolve the issues raised by farmers in the three agriculture laws.
He hoped that all doubts of the farmers would be adequately addressed.
Reiterating that the farmers’ fears about the discontinuation of minimum support price or the mandi system were completely unfounded, Sharma said the laws in no way were against the farmer interests.
In a statement, Sharma said the state farmers have contributed immensely to the nation’s foodgrain stocks and the entire country is indebted to them for this.
13:28 (IST)
Farmers Protest LATEST Updates
Farmers to burn copy of new legislations on Lohri today
Farmers protesting at Delhi borders said they will burn copies of Centre’s new agriculture laws at all demonstration sites on the festival of Lohri on Wednesday, as a mark of protest against the legislations.
Incidentally, Wednesday also marks the 50th day of the farmers’ protest in Delhi.
Lohri is mostly celebrated in north India, marking the beginning of the spring season. Bonfires are a special characteristic of the festival.
Farmers’ leader Manjeet Singh Rai said they will celebrate Lohri by burning the copies of farm laws at all protest sites in the evening.
Sankyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of around 40 protesting farmer unions, will hold a meeting later in the day to discuss the next course of action.
This comes a day after the protesting farmer unions asserted they will not appear before the Supreme Court-appointed panel, alleging it was “pro-government”, and said they won’t settle for anything less than the repeal of the three contentious laws.
Farmers Protest LATEST Updates: Farmers protesting at Delhi borders said they will burn copies of Centre’s new agriculture laws at all demonstration sites on the festival of Lohri on Wednesday, as a mark of protest against the legislations.
Lohri is mostly celebrated in north India, marking the beginning of the spring season. Bonfires are a special characteristic of the festival.
Farmers’ leader Manjeet Singh Rai said they will celebrate Lohri by burning the copies of farm laws at all protest sites in the evening.
Sankyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of around 40 protesting farmer unions, will hold a meeting later in the day to discuss the next course of action.
This comes a day after the protesting farmer unions asserted they will not appear before the Supreme Court-appointed panel, alleging it was “pro-government”, and said they won’t settle for anything less than the repeal of the three contentious laws.
The unions also raised doubts over the neutrality of the members of the committee even as they welcomed the top court’s order to stay the implementation of the laws.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of the controversial farm laws till further orders and set up the four-member committee to resolve the impasse between the Centre and the farmer unions protesting at Delhi’s borders over the legislations.
Thousands of farmers, mostly from Haryana and Punjab, have been protesting at several border points of Delhi since November 28 last year, demanding a repeal of the three laws and a legal guarantee to the minimum support price (MSP) system for their crops.
Enacted in September last year, the three laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have expressed their apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of the MSP and do away with the “mandi” (wholesale market) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.