Amid criticism from farmers, veteran leader Bhupinder Singh Mann on Thursday recused himself from the Supreme Court-appointed committee to reconcile differences between the Centre and the agitating farmers over the agricultural reforms.
“As a farmer myself and a Union leader, in view of the prevailing sentiments and apprehensions amongst the farm unions and the public in general, I am ready to sacrifice any position offered or given to me so as to not compromise the interests of Punjab and farmers of the country, I am recusing myself from the committee and I will always stand with my farmers and Punjab,” Mann, a former Rajya Sabha member, said in a statement.
Mann, the President of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Mann), was appointed to the four-member committee by the apex court on Tuesday. Besides Mann, Ashok Gulati, Anil Ghanvat and P K Joshi are members of the committee.
Farmers' unions, whose protests against the farm laws entered 51st day, had rejected the committee contending that all the members were pro-reforms. They had expressed their desire to continue negotiations with the ministerial panel led by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar instead of the court-appointed committee.
The agitating farmers were scheduled to meet the ministerial panel on Friday and Tomar had expressed the hope of a resolution through talks.
The farmers' unions welcomed Mann's recusal from the committee and appealed to Anil Ghanvat of the Shetkari Sangathana to follow suit. Ghanvat is reported to have rejected the appeal and said that serving on the Committee was an opportunity to set right the agricultural policy.
Soon after the four-member committee was announced on Tuesday, farmers' unions and opposition parties pointed out that the quartet was known for its pro-reforms views and could not do justice to the concerns of the protesting farmers.
Agricultural economist Gulati, a former Chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, and Joshi have written extensively in support of the reforms. Ghanvat and Mann too have been supportive of the farm laws.
In his heydays 1970s-80s, Mann had led many protests in Punjab along with Sharad Joshi of Shetkari Sangathana. However, over the years Bhartiya Kisan Union split into several factions -- most of which are part of the protests on Delhi borders.