The protesting farmers have already held 11 rounds of formal dialogue with the central government over the contentious agri laws, but the crisis has not yet achieved any resolution.
Farmers protesting against the three contentious agri laws passed by the central government will launch an agitation on Thursday at the Jantar Mantar near Parliament in New Delhi. Ahead of the demonstrations, a farmer leader said that the next stop for the farmers’ protest demonstrations will be the state of Uttar Pradesh, where the protestors plan to “isolate” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and highlight the demand to repeal the farm laws.
“Our next stop will be Uttar Pradesh, the heartland of the BJP,” said Prem Singh Bhangu, a farmer leader present at the Singhu border between Delhi and Haryana. “We will totally isolate the BJP”.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Bhangu said, “We are ready for talks, but there is no alternative other than to repeal the three farm laws.”
Our next stop will be Uttar Pradesh, BJP’s heartland. Our UP mission will begin on Sept 5. We’ll totally isolate BJP. There is no alternative other than to repeal three farm laws. We are ready for talks: Prem Singh Bhangu (in Pic 1), Farmer leader at Singhu (Delhi-Haryana) border
Notably, the protesting farmers have already held 11 rounds of formal dialogue with the central government over the contentious agri laws, but the crisis has not yet achieved any resolution. While the government maintains that the laws are pro-farmer, the protestors insist that the laws are repealed and a new law be made to guarantee the minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
Hundreds of farmers are encamped at Delhi’s Singhu, Tikri, and Ghazipur borders since November 2020 with this single demand that the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back.
The agitation planned by the protesting farmers at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar today is part of the strategy to monitor Parliament proceedings amid its ongoing monsoon session.
The government has, however, asked the protesting farmers to provide an affidavit declaring that all Covid-19 norms will be followed and that the movement will be peaceful. The demonstrators will also be met with heavy security deployment in the area.
