Farmer unions obdurate stand shows vested interests at play: BJP leaders on agri laws
Politically, there is some concern in the BJP about its poll prospects in northern states, especially Punjab, where assembly polls are scheduled for early next year.
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Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar C along with Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Minister of State Som Prakash. (Photo | Parveen Negi/EPS) By PTI
NEW DELHI: Farmer unions rejection of the government s latest offer to put the three contentious agriculture laws on hold and their insistence that they will agree to nothing short of a complete repeal seems to have muddied the political waters for the BJP, but some party leaders feel their obdurate stand makes it clear that they may be playing in the hands of vested interests.
Thousands of farmers are protesting at various border points of Delhi against the three laws.
NEW DELHI: The talks between protesting farmer unions and government over the three new farm laws hit a roadblock on Friday as both sides again failed to reach a consensus on the contentious legislations.
At the 11th round of talks, the farmer leaders stuck to their demands for a total rollback of the laws and a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system. The Centre, on the other hand, asked the unions to reconsider its proposal for putting the legislations on hold for 12-18 months.
NEW DELHI: Farmer unions rejection of the government s latest offer to put the three contentious agriculture laws on hold and their insistence that they will agree to nothing short of a complete repeal seem to have muddied the political waters for the BJP, but some party leaders feel their obdurate stand makes it clear that they may be playing into the hands of vested interests. Several party leaders said that protesting farmers all-or-nothing approach and their warning to further intensify the agitation may actually help the government in the battle of perceptions, especially when it has become clear that the Centre made a big climbdown by offering to put the laws on hold for up to two years and when the Supreme Court has also formed a panel to resolve the crisis.
The government s negotiations with protesting farm unions hit a roadblock on Friday as the farmer leaders stuck to their demands for a complete repeal of three farm laws they find pro-corporate and a legal guarantee for MSP, even as the Centre asked them to reconsider its proposal for putting the Acts on hold for 12-18 months.
Unlike the last 10 rounds of talks, the 11th round could not even reach a decision on the next date for the meeting as the government also hardened its position saying it is ready to meet again once the unions agree to discuss the suspension proposal. This followed a big climbdown made by the Centre during the last round when they offered to suspend the laws and form a joint committee to find solutions.
Satya PrakashTribune News ServiceNew Delhi, January 20
The Supreme Court on Wednesday took strong exception to casting of aspersions on a four-member committee appointed by it to talk to farmers agit