AMIT SHAH TO MEET PUNJAB CM AHEAD OF TALKS WITH FARMERS TODAY

Ahead of the scheduled meeting between the farmer leaders belonging to more than 30 kisan unions and the Central leadership on Thursday to find out a way to end the standoff on the central three farm laws, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will meet Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

The meeting is likely to take place at 9.30 am, sources said, ahead of the crucial meeting with farmers’ representatives. The Thursday meeting with farmer organisations will be the fourth since the protests started.

The meeting has been called between Amarider Singh and Amit Shah to understand the issue relating to the contentious farm laws and to adopt a “middle-way approach” to end the deadlock, an official in the Chief Minister’s Office told IANS on Wednesday.

It is learnt that the Centre is keen to end the deadlock as early as possible as the national capital blockade has severely impacted the economy.

Terming the farmers’ fight against the farm laws as just, the Punjab CM had on Monday asked the Centre why it was being adamant on the issue and not listening to the farmers. “It is the job of the government to listen to its people. If farmers from so many states are joining the agitation, then they must be really upset,” he said.

Meanwhile, the agitating farmers on Wednesday urged the Union government to convene a special session of Parliament to repeal the three farm laws, besides threatening to hold a nationwide protest on 5 December.

Addressing a press conference at the Delhi-Haryana border in Singhu, Darshan Pal, president of the Krantikari Kisan Union, said, “We will celebrate December 3, when the Bhopal gas tragedy took place several decades ago, as anti-corporate day. On December 5, we will protest against the Modi government and the corporate houses and burn their effigies.”

Pal said that artistes and sportspersons have given a call to return the awards they have received from the government. “We thank the people who have announced to return their awards to the government and we are hopeful that those who have got national awards will also return them as a mark of solidarity with the farmers’ movement,” he said, adding that the farmer leaders will give a written 7-10 page recommendation on why they want the farm laws to be repealed.

“We demand the government to call a special session of the Parliament to repeal the three farm laws,” Pal said. He informed that during the meeting with the government on Tuesday, it seemed to them that the government tried to divide them and tried to mislead them on the three farm laws.

Even as the farmers threatened the government, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told the media that they would hold discussions with the farmers’ leaders on Thursday. “We have called a meeting with farmers tomorrow and let’s see to what extent issues can be resolved,” Tomar said.

He told the farmers that the laws are in the farmers’ interest and the reforms have come after a long wait. “But if they have any objection to it then we are ready to address their concerns,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Amit Shah was apprised of the farmers demand by Tomar and Union Railways and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal about Tuesday’s parleys they had with the leaders of farmers at Vigyan Bhavan.

The farmers have been sitting on protest for the last seven days at Delhi-Haryana and Delhi-Uttar Pradesh borders. Thousands of farmers have been camping at the Singhu border, while several other groups have blocked the entry at the Delhi-Haryana border in Tikri, the Delhi-UP Ghazipur border and the Delhi-UP Chilla border.

With agency inputs