The government on Friday appeared biding time just before revealing its resolution formula to the protesting farmers, offered that the Supreme Court may possibly appear into the legality of the 3 contentious farm laws as it hears the matter on January 11.
After the eighth round of talks with the farmer unions on Friday, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar told the media that the government was open to contemplating recommendations from the farmers for a resolution, other than repeal of the laws.
Asked no matter if the government would look at producing the controversial laws optional for the states to implement to break the stalemate, Tomar mentioned recommendations required to come from the farmers.
On their element, farmer leaders stuck to their demand that the laws be fully withdrawn and insisted that their ‘ghar wapsi’ from the borders of the national capital is contingent on the abrogation of the laws. Farmer leaders who FE spoke to had been also not enthusiastic about a court-mediated resolution to the challenge, and stated that the resolution should come from the government in its capacity as the policymaker.
Both sides agreed to meet once more on January 15.
While farmer leaders claimed that the government asked them to strategy the court, Tomar denied producing any such request.
“We will not go to the court and the government has to withdraw its anti-farmer laws,” mentioned Hannan Mollah, common secretary of All India Kisan Sabha, an affiliate of CPI(M). Mollah also mentioned farmer leaders will go over their subsequent course of action on January 11. Another farmer leader Shiv Kumar Sharma mentioned the government informed them that it would request the apex court to choose on the constitutional validity of the laws by means of common hearings.
On Wednesday, the SC agreed to hear the petitions difficult the farm laws and the on-going protest on January 11 right after Attorney General KK Venugopal informed the court that, “there are chances of the parties coming to some sort of an understanding”. The major court in December had recommended that a committee be formed to break the deadlock more than the talks, but just before passing any order it wanted to hear some of the farmer leaders.
For the initially time, Tomar is learnt to have categorically told the farmer leaders on Friday that “the laws cannot and will not be repealed”. He told the media: “No decision could be taken today. Government kept requesting farmers to suggest alternatives other than repeal as it is ready to consider such alternative if farmer unions suggest. Despite a prolonged discussion, no alternative could be worked out.”
A day just before the talks, the government floated an notion of producing implementation of the farm laws optional for the states to finish the six-week lengthy protests. Baba Lakha Singh, a priest of Nanaksar Gurdwara of Punjab met Tomar on Thursday and discussed the proposal.
On Thursday, thousands of farmers held tractor-marches from Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders, intensifying their agitation against the 3 laws governing agriculture production and marketing and advertising.
PTI reported: Around a single hour right after (Thursday’s meeting began), the 3 ministers (Tomar, railway and commerce minister Piyush Goyal, minister of state for commerce Som Prakash) stepped out of the discussion hall for their personal internal consultations, right after union leaders decided to observe silence even though holding out papers with slogans such as ‘Jeetenge ya Marenge’ (We will either win or die). The union leaders, having said that, refused to take a lunch break and stayed place in the meeting space, a supply mentioned.
Before the get started of the meeting, Tomar had also met senior BJP leader and property minister Amit Shah for about an hour. Later, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar also met Shah.
On January 4, the seventh round of talks had ended inconclusively as the unions stuck to their demand for a total repeal of 3 farm laws, even though the government wanted to go over only the ‘problematic’ clauses or other options to finish the stalemate. Before that, in the sixth round of talks held on December 30 final year, some widespread ground was reached on two demands — decriminalisation of stubble-burning and continuation of energy subsidies.