A day before farmers protesting against Centre's new agriculture laws organise a tractor march from all protest sites near the national capital, Government on Wednesday showcased the support by "a large number of farmers from across the country" for the farm laws and urged the protesting unions to "understand the sentiments behind reforms" brought through these legislations.
However, hours after Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar held a media interaction and expressed confidence that the protesting unions will focus on farmers' interests and help the government reach a solution through constructive dialogue, the Unions unveiled their agitation plans for Thursday, saying thousands of farmers will take out the tractor march from all protest sites -- Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur and Shahjahanpur (Haryana-Rajasthan border) -- the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP). The Tractor March' announced by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha will spill out both on the Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways.
The divergence in the stand of the government and farmers two days before the next round of talks between them on January 8 is an indication that any thaw in the frosty negotiations is still somewhat away even as the government has been expressing hope of resolving the issue soon. Seven rounds of talks between the two sides has failed to break the ice. If a consensus is not reached on January 8, the next day January 9, which is the birth anniversary of well-known farmer leader from Haryana Chhotu Ram, will be another occasion for expression of farmer solidarity. Already, the late Ram's son and former Union Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh has expressed support to the agitating farmers.
A resolution as such appears difficult before January 11 when the Supreme Court would hear a batch of petitions challenging the new farm laws. Farmers have further plans to observe Lohri on January 13 and Makar Sankranti on January 14 as Sankalp Diwas and have announced a public awareness campaign from January 6 to January 20 on the farm laws as a counter to the government's campaign.
Bhartiya Kisan Union said the tractor march on Thursday will pass through half a dozen points and farmers will hold meetings on the way and assert they will intensify their stir in the coming days.
Speaking separately Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who along with Tomar and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash is holding talks Unions to end the deadlock, however, said he looks positively at the ongoing discussions with farmer unions as an opportunity to explain to them the benefits from the new laws against which they are protesting.
Tomar, who met a number of farm groups supporting the new laws, had a meeting with All India Farmers Association (AIFA), headed by former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's grandson Sanjay Nath Singh, which submitted a representation in support of the new farm laws and recommended setting of an independent regulatory body to monitor farm contracts, price regulatory authority to monitor purchase and sale price of farm produce, enforcement of a template of contract agreement among others. The symbolism of the government meeting Singh, the grandson of Shastri, who had coined the slogan "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" during the 1965 Indo-Pak war was not lost.
Tomar expressed confidence that the protesting unions will focus on farmers' interests and help the government reach a solution through constructive dialogue.