Stepping up pressure on the Modi government on farm laws, Congress will organise protests across the nation on January 15 by laying siege on Raj Bhawans. The party is also planning to stall Parliament proceedings during the Budget Session.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi chaired a meeting of AICC General Secretaries and AICC in-charges of states to chart out the protest programme to express solidarity with the farmers who have been agitating for the repeal of the farm laws for the past 44 days.
Sitting on a wheelchair, 44-year-old Harvinder Singh from Punjab's Jalandhar interacts with fellow farmers camping at Delhi's Singhu border to protest against the Centre's new agri laws.
His physical limitations due to polio have rendered him on a wheelchair for decades but that has not deterred him from joining the over a month-long agitation, leaving behind his ailing mother at his native village.
I may have lost all hopes of recovery from polio but I have not lost hope for a positive outcome from this agitation, he says.
The Trinamool Congress on Saturday said that BJP's concern for farmers of the state is a sham as its leaders do not bother about those protesting within the striking distance of Delhi.
Speaking to reporters, senior TMC leader and state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said BJP leaders have time to travel across the country and "shed crocodile tears" for farmers but not pay any heed to those protesting against the farm laws. (PTI)
Farmers protesting against the Centre's three new farm laws took out a protest march on their tractors here on Saturday, raising slogans against the Union and the state governments.
The farmers gathered at a grain market near the Ambala-Hisar highway in the morning and then marched towards Ambala cantonment, leading to traffic snarls in the city. (PTI)
Amid ongoing protests over the new farm laws, BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday launched a new campaign to woo the farmers of West Bengal and said the BJP government at the centre has increased the agricultural budget six-fold and the Minimum Support Price by 1.5 times.
"Since coming to power, the Modi govt has increased budget on agriculture by six times. In 2013-14, the budget on agriculture was only Rs 22,000 crore. Today, it stands at Rs 1,34,000 crore," Nadda said. (PTI)
The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) on Saturday said it will pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the farmers' movement against the Centre's new agri laws by collecting soil from across the country, especially from towns and villages of farmers who died, and create a map of India with it in the national capital. (PTI)
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Saturday said it was extremely worrying that the eight-round of talks between the Centre and the protesting farmers failed to break the deadlock over the new agriculture laws.
In a tweet in Hindi, Mayawati said, “Negotiations between the central government and the farmers, who have been agitating on Delhi’s borders, once again failed, which is extremely worrying. The Centre is again requested to accept the demands of the farmers to withdraw the new agricultural laws and solve the problem soon.” (PTI)
(ANI)
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Saturday said it was extremely worrying that the eight round of talks between the Centre and the protesting farmers failed to break the deadlock over the new agriculture laws.
Shouting slogans and blaring horns, thousands of farmers on Thursday blocked a key expressway that skirts the national capital in a show of strength to press for their demand for repeal of the agricultural reforms.
The farmers' unions, who have been camping on Delhi's borders for 43 days, claimed Thursday's tractor rally as a rehearsal for a bigger tractor parade to cripple the national capital on Republic Day.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi is set to meet senior party leaders on Saturday to take stock of the farmers’ protests against Centre’s three farm laws.
This comes after the stalemate between the farmers and the Centre continued even after the eighth round of talks between them.
She would connect virtually with party leaders to chalk out a plan to back the protesters who have been agitating for over a month and have been staying put at Delhi borders despite extremely cold weather and heavy rains.
A two-day special session of the West Bengal Assembly will begin on January 27 when the state government will table a resolution against the Centre's new farm laws and discuss the issue of agitating farmers.
State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters on Friday evening that a letter has been sent to Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay, urging him for convening the special session.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday slammed the Centre for scheduling the next meeting with agitationfarmerleaders after a gap of a week and said it shows the height of its insensitivity.
Shouting slogans and blaring horns, thousands of farmers on Thursday blocked a key expressway that skirts the national capital in a show of strength to press for their demand for repeal of the agricultural reforms.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Friday backed the farmers' stir and also accused the BJP government at the Centre of trying to sabotage the Kerala government flagship projects.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday said he had “naturally asked” police to give him regular intelligence updates related to the farmers’ protest in the national capital.
From 'Ek Mutthi Chawal Sangrah' (collecting a fistful of rice) in a door-to-door programme to 'Krishok Surokha' (farmer security) campaign on Saturday, the BJP has decided to augment its election campaign in West Bengal, which is a farmer-sensitive state, at a time when farmers have been agitating on the borders of Delhi for a month and a half.
BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Friday said that the saffron party, after voted to power in West Bengal, will ensure that each farmer of the state will get Rs 18,000 in arrears under the PM Kisan scheme.
As the eighth round of talks between the Centre and protesting farmers on Friday failed to break an over-a-month-long deadlock, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said no decision could be reached as unions did not give alternatives to their demand for the repeal of laws.
BJP president JP Nadda will reach out to farmers in poll-bound West Bengal on Saturday by addressing them in Burdwan and also kickstart his party's door-to-door rice collection, aimed at underlining its "commitment" to peasants' growth, progress and prosperity.
On a day the eighth round of talks between the Centre and farmer leaders ended inconclusively, the Congress on Friday accused the government of trying to tire out the agitating farmers and stressed that repealing the three farm laws was the only solution to the issue.