Sharad Pawar to meet President on Dec 9 over farmers' protest

NCP chief Sharad Pawar is scheduled to meet President Ram Nath Kovind on December 9 over the ongoing farmers protest against the new agrarian laws, the party said here on Sunday.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar is scheduled to meet President Ram Nath Kovind on December 9 over the ongoing farmers' protest against the new agrarian laws, the party said here on Sunday. NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said the former Union agriculture minister will apprise Kovind of the situation in the country in the backdrop of the protest.

Pawar will be accompanied by CPM leader Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D Raja and DMK MP T R Baalu. They will meet Kovind at 5 pm on Wednesday, NCP sources said. The NCP on Sunday joined other opposition parties in extending support to the 'Bharat Bandh' called on December 8 by farmer unions, which have been protesting on Delhi's borders since November 26 demanding repeal of the Centre's new agri-marketing laws.

The representatives of thousands of agitating farmers have said that their call for a 'Bharat Bandh' would be observed with full force. Earlier in the day, Pawar asked the Centre to take serious cognisance of the ongoing farmers' protest and said if the deadlock continues, the agitation will not be limited to Delhi and people from across the country will stand by the protesting cultivators.

The NCP had staged a walk-out in the Rajya Sabha when the three farm bills were introduced in September during the Parliament's monsoon session..