The Rajasthan Congress will lay siege to the Raj Bhavan here on Friday in support of the farmers' agitation against the Centre’s new farm laws.
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Thursday said the protesting farmer unions will attend the scheduled ninth round of talks with the government and asserted it is necessary to continue the dialogue to resolve the deadlock and end the agitation.
The Trinamool Congress on Thursday claimed that the new agriculture laws will leave small and marginal farmers at the mercy of big corporates and demanded that the legislation should be immediately repealed.
Protesting farmer leaders welcomed Bhartiya Kisan Union president Bhupinder Singh Mann's decision on Thursday to recuse himself from a Supreme Court-appointed committee, and reiterated that they do not want any panel and will not settle for anything less than the repeal of the three contentious laws.
The government's ninth round of negotiations with protesting farmer unions will take place as scheduled on Friday and the Centre is hopeful of positive discussions, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Thursday.
The Supreme Court Tuesday sought the cooperation of protesting farmers at Delhi borders and said no power can prevent it from setting up a committee to resolve the impasse over controversial farm laws.
Dozens of Reliance Industries' retail stores and a giant Walmart outlet face revenue losses of millions of dollars after being forced to shut for more than three months over protests against India's new farm laws, sources said.
You are suppressing farmers. You're helping a handful of businesses. When Corona comes, you are not helping the common man. Whose Prime Minister are you? Are you the Prime Minister of the people of India or of 2-3 selected businessmen?: Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader, in Madurai
Mark my words. Take it from me. The government will be forced to take these laws (the three farm laws), back. Remember what I said: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in Madurai, Tamil Nadu
Uttar Pradesh state Congress president Ajai Kumar Lallu on Wednesday asserted thatfarmersprotesting against the three central farm laws cannot expect justice from the Supreme Court-appointed panel because four of its members have already favoured the laws in past. Talking to reporters here, Lallu said with the apex court intervening in the matter, thefarmershad expected that it would repeal the law.
Neither the government nor the farmers who are protesting against the three new farm laws had approached the Supreme Court for mediation on the issues of dispute between them. The main issue before the court, raised in some petitions, concerned the constitutional validity of the laws, but these were not filed by the agitating farmers.
A day after the Supreme Court set up a four-member committee to end the impasse over new farm laws, the AAP on Wednesday demanded that the Centre immediately repeal the legislations as no panel can do it.
The Congress on Wednesday accused the government of misleading the country and the Supreme Court by claiming that pre-legislative consultations were held prior to the passage of the three farm laws and claimed this amounted to contempt of court.
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Wednesday demanded that the Centre's new farm laws be withdrawn, a day after the Supreme Court stayed their implementation. In a series of tweets, Siddaramaiah accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of turning a blind eye to the plight of farmers in the country.
RTI queries seeking details of pre-legislative consultations on the three contentious farm laws have drawn a blank with the information officers of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare indicating that they do not have any information about such an exercise.
Farmers burnt copies of three contentious farm laws on the festival of Lohri on Wednesday even as protesters said the Centre has "totally failed" to justify in the past over 50 days of their struggle how these Acts will benefit them.